Easier To Run
by SpicySugar
Summary: Harry and Hermione are, of course, the best of friends, until one day when they have a fight and stop talking to each other. Yet only hours later, something so tragic happens that they are both forced to flee Hogwarts alone. R&R please! HITS:9740
1. Introduction

AN: Okay, brand-new story! I am going to be very motivated here, so there will be no discontinuing, no enormous waits in between updates, no "unsure" length of the story, no loose ends or loop holes, and, most importantly, NO SEQUELS. Just figured I'd make that clear right here. If everything goes as planned, this story will have 15 chapters, no more no less. Don't be afraid to review, everybody! Even if you have no criticism (which I hope you won't, but if you do, let me know what I'm doing wrong), you can still just say "good story" or something. See, reviews let me know that people are reading and (hopefully) liking my story. Now, I doubt many of you are reading this, so I'll just get to the chapter.

Disclaimer: (has anyone noticed the lack of these in any stories lately?) You know, I don't see any point in these stupid Disclaimers…I mean, honestly, JKR owns Harry Potter and the book series…so why would she come on here and write stuff? So, by process of elimination, we know that no one on here owns HP, because the only person that DOES would have no purpose writing fan-fictions…hence why there will be no more Disclaimers in this story.

* * *

Chapter 1: Introduction

It was another beautiful Sunday in May at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of the students, like Harry, Ron and Hermione, were enjoying it out on the grounds. To everyone's surprise, most particularly Harry and Ron, Hermione was not using every spare minute to study for the exams, which were three weeks away. Instead, she was sitting under a large beech tree – the same one the trio so often found themselves under – playing Exploding Snap with Harry and Ron. Hermione could never remember feeling so carefree before, and Harry and Ron could never remember Hermione looking so happy before. A very unwelcome Slytherin strutting their way interrupted their contentment, however.

"Well, well, well, would you look at this," Draco Malfoy drawled. "The mudblood Granger doesn't have her nose buried in a book. Someone alert the _Daily Prophet_!" Hermione remained silent, although there was a certain stony look to her face.

"Well, well, well," mimicked Harry, standing, "look everyone, Malfoy doesn't have his two trolls with him. What happened, did they die of stupidity?" Malfoy's eyes narrowed.

"You'd better watch your mouth, Potter," he spat. "Someday it'll get you into to trouble."

"Oh, and I suppose you think you're just an innocent little angel, do you?" retorted Harry. Malfoy eyed Harry malevolently before stalking off. Harry spun around and sat back down next to Ron and Hermione. Ron was looking very pleased, but Hermione was still looking grim.

"What's eating you, Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Oh, it's nothing. Malfoy's just a git. Let's continue, shall we?" she said, and played her next card.

* * *

Later, at dinner, Hermione was back to looking gloomy, and when Harry and Ron again asked what was wrong, she quickly put a smile on her face and said she was fine. Harry and Ron exchanged a look, but left her alone about it.

"You know, compared to last year, exams are going to be simple," said Ron thoughtfully. Harry looked at him as though he'd gone mad. Ron Weasley, saying exams would be _easy_?

"You're kidding, right?" said Harry, disbelieving.

"No, really, think about it: I mean, last year, we had to re-study everything from _first year_! Now we've only got this year's work to review," Ron explained.

"That's good you're looking at it that way, Ron," said Hermione. "I've only been trying to get you for _ages_ to not think exams are dreadful."

Harry thought about it…true, they did have less to study this year, but that didn't mean exams would make him any less nervous about passing. He voiced this to Ron.

"Oh Harry, lighten up! You seem so serious lately," said Ron. Harry remained silent. He still hadn't told Hermione and Ron about his prophecy, even after nearly a year. He tried to appear more cheerful for the rest of the evening.

* * *

Later that night as Harry lay in bed, he started thinking about how serious he really had been lately. _If these are going to be some of my last days alive_, thought Harry wildly, _I should live for the best of them. If Lord Voldemort murders me, I'll regret being so depressed._

Harry wasn't sure if it was because of these thoughts, or in spite of them, but he had a very odd dream - frightening, almost, in a weird sort of way. He decided not to mention it the next day when he woke up after it, a smile lingering on his face.

* * *

Harry couldn't concentrate in classes the following day. In Transfiguration, while trying to transfigure a badger, he accidentally sent the spell instead at Neville, who was sitting in front of him. Neville was sent to the hospital wing with steam pouring out of his mouth.

In Charms, the ink he was supposed to be charming to change from black to green and back again squirted out of the bottle like a fountain when he accidentally switched the words of the incantation. He, Ron, and Hermione had been drenched in the magical black ink, and had to skip lunch in order to scrub it off.

And in Potions, his Scouring Solution, which was supposed to be a deep red, was a green, bubbling muck, and Harry hardly noticed when Snape, with a twisted smile, gave him yet another zero. It amazed Harry that he'd even made it into Snape's class after his O.W.L. He supposed Dumbledore must have done a little persuading to let Harry into the class, because there weren't many other people there. It was so small that all four Houses could be in one class. Hermione, of course, was in it, and so was Malfoy, along with a couple other Gryffindors and Slytherins. There was also a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Even Ron had made it in, whose Potions O.W.L. had turned out to be an Outstanding. When he wasn't in a dark, damp dungeon with Snape for a teacher, it turned out that Ron was rather gifted with Potions.

All in all, Harry was glad to reach the end of the day. Of course, because he had performed so abysmally in classes today, he had a lot of homework, but it was better than being humiliated in class.

* * *

AN: I KNOW IT'S SHORT, but it's just the introduction. I guarantee longer chapters for the rest of the story - trust me. PLEASE REVIEW!

xXx SpicySugar xXx


	2. Harry's Dream

AN: I am back again! Thanks to my three reviewers for last chapter, **riter402, Song of Rain, **and **GinnyGin.**

A little note to **Song of Rain **– you haven't read the fifth book yet, have you? The prophecy I'm talking about it the one that Harry hears at the end of OotP.

So, onto a much more promising, longer chapter!

* * *

Chapter 2: Harry's Dream

Harry was working on his homework late into the night and early morning. The common room was completely empty, and the fire had long since been reduced to coals. Now, at two a.m., he regretted saving the worst bit for last – his two-foot long essay for Snape on Scouring Solutions. He put his last sentence on and measured the roll of parchment. It was still three inches short, but he was too tired to care. He rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into his bag, then drug it up to his dormitory with him, where he dropped onto his bed, still in his robes, and fell asleep immediately.

He was sitting on a dock overlooking a lake, his legs dangling over the end. He looked to his left and Hermione was sitting next to him, and she too was swinging her legs over the water. She looked back at him and smiled, and he put his arm around her waist. After a few seconds she gently laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"_What's wrong?" Harry asked her._

"_Oh, nothing. It's just…who would have thought, that, after all this…" she trailed off._

"_I know," he said simply. They were silent for a few more moments. Then Harry turned to look at Hermione again and saw that she was looking back. She made to turn away, embarrassed, but Harry held her chin in his hand._

"_Don't," he said. She looked at him with questioning eyes, and he just smiled. He leaned toward her…she closed her eyes and so did he…his lips met with hers…_

Harry felt the dream sliding away and clamped his eyes shut, willing it to stay. But dreams, like many other fine things in life, are too good to be true ninety-nine times out of a hundred, and Harry soon found himself staring at the back of his eyelids. He opened his eyes reluctantly and stared around at the shadowy shapes in his dark dormitory, noticing his bedside clock. It was four in the morning, now. He'd had the same dream two nights in a row, and found himself liking it even more the second time around. Last night he had resolved to not tell anyone, but this time he felt that maybe it was better that Hermione knew…she would probably find it very humorous. After all, she needed a good laugh, what with the teachers pressing down on them from every angle because of the approaching exams. Making up his mind, Harry closed his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

Harry was quiet at breakfast; afraid to look at or speak to anyone, especially Hermione, for fear that he would look or sound very ill at ease. Instead of socializing while eating his bacon and eggs, he tried in his mind to first rehearse his conversation later with Hermione, then, remembering that practicing a conversation beforehand often makes them worse, he tried to clear his mind of all thoughts of Hermione so he could actually concentrate in class that day.

"Are you okay, mate? You seem awfully quiet," said Ron through a mouthful of toast.

"Oh, I—I'm fine," said Harry with a small smile. Ron didn't push the matter, although he didn't look convinced.

"Ron's right, Harry, you don't look too good," said Hermione. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," said Harry again. "I'm just—tired."

* * *

If Harry was tired at breakfast, it worsened in History of Magic. He didn't usually fall asleep in Binns's class, but today was different, because of the little bit of sleep he had gotten the night before. He had his head resting on his hand, and when he finally closed his eyes, his head slipped right down his arm onto his elbow. Ron and Hermione, knowing that Harry had had a boatload of homework the night before, just let him sleep until the bell, when they shook him awake.

"Harry, Harry wake up, mate, we've got Transfiguration next," said Ron. Harry stirred sleepily.

"Wha…?" grumbled Harry thickly.

"Ron, hurry up!" called Hermione from the door. "We're going to be late!"

"It's not my fault! Sleeping Beauty here just won't get up!" he said back. This seemed to jerk Harry back to earth. His eyes shot open and he jumped up, grabbing his bag and jogging out of the room. Once they were in the corridors, he glared at Ron.

"Don't ever call me Sleeping Beauty again," he said slowly.

"Okay then, how about Cinderella?" said Hermione innocently. "It fits, doesn't it?" Harry glared at her, too.

"Or maybe not," Hermione added hastily. They made their way to Transfiguration in silence.

* * *

Transfiguration wasn't much better than History of Magic. Although Harry did manage to actually point his wand in the right direction this time, he was so distracted that, rather than turning his badger into a silk bag, he ended up with something like a furry pouch with legs. Professor McGonagall wasn't happy, and assigned another him night of practice; but thankfully, not another essay. Harry was very disgruntled by the time he actually made it to lunch, but he tried to make himself cheerful by reminiscing his dream. It worked somewhat. Or, at least, he wasn't scowling when he sat down in the Great Hall.

"Well, you seem a bit happier, now," said Ron. Harry managed a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm a bit more awake," he said. Hermione frowned.

"Harry, you seemed so…distant…this morning. Is there anything you want to talk about?" asked Hermione. Harry's stomach jumped. How did Hermione always know _everything_?

"Yeah, actually," he replied. "Will you come with me a moment?" he asked her, getting up from the table. She followed his lead as he walked right out of the Great Hall and into the entrance hall.

"Harry, what is it? Why couldn't you say it in front of Ron?" she inquired.

"Just listen, okay?" he said in a hushed voice. "It's just something between you and me, but I figured it would give you a laugh," he said with a small smile.

"Okay…"

"Well, last night, I had this dream, and you were in it. You and me were sitting on this dock – I'd never seen it before – and we were just talking and then you laid your head on my shoulder." He paused.

"And…this is supposed to make me laugh?" said Hermione reluctantly.

"Oh, no, that isn't the funny part. See, after that, we, kind of, er…kissed," said Harry, forcing his face into a look of humor. "Isn't that hilarious?" he said, pretending to laugh. Hermione giggled.

"Well," she giggled, "yes, I—I suppose it is funny." She giggled all the way back into the Great Hall, but when Ron caught her eye she composed herself. She didn't need any inquiries. They sat back down at the table and quickly finished their lunches so they could go to their Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

"We've finally finished with those Blood-Sucking Bugbears," said Ron gratefully on their way.

"Yeah, how could we forget? I think I must have lost a liter of blood from those things," said Harry.

"I wonder what _fascinating_ new monster Hagrid will have this time?" joked Ron.

"Well, whatever they are, they aren't there right now," said Hermione, looking ahead to Hagrid's cabin. Harry and Ron squinted forward and they, too, saw that there was no sign of any new creature.

"That's odd. Wonder what's up?" said Ron. They were silent until they got to the cabin, where Hagrid was standing, beaming.

"Got a real treat fer yeh today," he said happily. Harry, Ron, and Hermione gulped. The last time he had said that was back in their third year. Malfoy had gotten slashed and he had nearly gotten the hippogriff that did it executed. It was because of Harry and Hermione that the hippogriff was now roaming free somewhere in the wild.

"And what kind of treat would that be, Hagrid?" asked Ron hesitantly.

"Nah, can' say, don' want ter spoil it," he replied. Once the rest of the class had arrived, Slytherins included, Hagrid spoke up.

"All righ' now, c'mon, follow me," said Hagrid loudly to the class, and he walked toward the Dark Forest and then into it, the class following rather unwillingly. They didn't go in very far, just about as far as the previous year when Hagrid had showed them the Thestrals. "Now, I'll warn yeh, these are some angry creatures when they're mad. So don' ever make 'em mad. Fer _some_ o' yeh, that'll be a real challenge," Hagrid said, glaring at Malfoy, "but fer most o' yeh, you won' have no trouble. I'm goin' ter go an' get 'em, so yeh just sit tigh' for a minute," he said, and he walked off out of sight.

"Oh, we're safe as long as we don't make them _angry_, that's real helpful news," said Draco Malfoy loudly. "They're _animals_, for Merlin's sake!"

"Shut up Malfoy," said Harry, annoyed.

"Oh, look," said Malfoy, turning towards Harry, "it's Potter and his faithful sidekicks, Weasel and the mudblood."

"I said shut _up_, Malfoy," said Harry, even more angrily.

"Oh, and what are you going to do about it, Potter? Going to get your little bookworm mudblood to hex me?" said Malfoy, sneering. Harry reached for his wand, but Hermione was quicker. She withdrew her wand before Malfoy had hardly finished his sentence, and pointed it right between Malfoy's eyes.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," said Hermione. "That's exactly what he had planned on doing."

Everyone stepped back, making a bit of a circle around Draco and Hermione. They were standing two meters apart, staring each other down. Malfoy went for his wand, but Hermione struck.

"_Iverte Statura!"_ she said loudly, and Malfoy went spinning through the air, knocking into a nearby tree three meters away, and equally high above the ground, then falling down to the hard earth in a heap. Hermione looked livid. Her eyes danced with fire, her cheeks were flushed with anger, she was breathing heavily, and she looked ready for another attack. She was still holding out her wand. Malfoy started to move, and she tightened her grip, but she saw he was badly bruised, and despite herself, she felt a pang of guilt. This was a mistake. Malfoy, who was clutching his wand while kneeling on all fours, kept it pointed discreetly at Hermione as he shakily made his way to his feet. He glared at her, and then, without warning, he attacked.

"_Volautè_!" he shouted, and Hermione, caught completely off guard, flew thirty feet into the air while flipping over and over, banged her head on a branch of the tree towering above her, and lay, motionless, in a crook of the branches. Harry and Ron, who had been watching, stunned, acted immediately. Harry was more concerned about getting Hermione out of the tree, but Ron was more anxious to get revenge on Malfoy.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" he said, while pointing his wand at Draco. Malfoy, however, was looking sinisterly at Harry, who was staring up at Hermione. Ron looked over at Harry, too.

"So, Potter's mudblood girlfriend tries to stand up for him, and look where she is! Caught up a tree like a cat!" he said malevolently. Ron seized his chance, while Malfoy was sneering at Harry. Turning once again toward Draco, Ron pointed his wand right at him.

"_Cadusè Gentra_!" he shouted, and his spell hit Malfoy in the stomach with such force that it knocked him out. Ron then rushed over to Harry, who was pointing his wand up at Hermione, trying to get a good aim.

"What are you going to do?" said Ron anxiously.

"Levitate her down," responded Harry, as calmly as he could. He finally got his arm to stop shaking and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Hermione then lifted off of the tree branch, and Harry slowly lowered his wand so that she would fall gently towards the ground. The rest of the class watched in stunned silence as Hermione was gently laid on the earth, and then Harry and Ron rushed over to her. No one noticed Hagrid return, but Hagrid noticed two unconscious students on the ground.

"Wha's goin' on 'ere?" he demanded. Everyone jumped at Hagrid's voice, then there was a mad rush to explain from all the Slytherins and Gryffindors, each giving a different perspective on the story. The only people who weren't talking to Hagrid, aside from Hermione and Malfoy, of course, was Harry and Ron, overlooking Hermione, and Pansy Parkinson, who was kneeling next to Draco. Harry was now pointing his wand at Hermione's forehead.

"_Ennervate_," he said quietly, and Hermione stirred slightly. Her eyes then slowly opened. The first thing she saw was Harry, whose nose was about a foot from her face.

"Harry?" she said quietly. Then she turned her head and noticed Ron. "Ron? What happened? Why am I on the ground? What—?" she suddenly winced, and her hand flew to the back of her head. "Oh, my head…" she moaned.

"Harry, we have to get her to the hospital wing," said Ron nervously.

"You're right, you tell Hagrid while I help her up," he said, and Ron nodded and tried to get to Hagrid through the mob of students.

"Hagrid!" Ron shouted, and Hagrid looked over at him. "Hermione needs the hospital wing, she's hurt!"

"Go on, take 'er, an' take this great lump while yer at it," said Hagrid, motioning towards Draco over the heads of the students still trying to explain.

"Okay," said Ron, and he went back over to Harry. "Hagrid says to take Hermione and Malfoy the hospital wing straight away."

"Right," said Harry, who was supporting Hermione. She was fighting to stay conscious…the pain in her head was unbearable, and she was very dizzy. "Come on, Hermione, try and walk," said Harry, and they slowly moved forward. Ron walked over to Malfoy and, with a look of deep disgust, pointed his wand at him.

"_Mobilicorpus_," he said, and Draco Malfoy floated into the air as if he were a marionette puppet. Ron preferred Malfoy unconscious and didn't want to have to deal with him complaining all they way up to the castle, so this worked nicely. Ron met up with Harry and Hermione a few moments later and together they slowly made their way up to the castle.

* * *

When they finally got to the infirmary, Hermione keeping deliberately silent despite her immense headache, Harry knocked on the door and Madame Pomphery opened it almost immediately.

"You _again_?" said the nurse in disbelief, looking at Harry.

"No, Madame Pomphery," said Harry quickly. "It's Hermione, she's got a terrible headache and she's really dizzy."

"Oh, gracious, child, what happened to you?" said the nurse, not expecting an answer, as she took Hermione away from Harry and lead her to a bed. Harry and Ron followed, Ron still holding up Draco with his wand. When Madame Pomphery turned back around from getting Hermione settled into the bed, she noticed Draco, suspended in midair.

"Oh, him too?" she said disapprovingly. "Guide him over there, to that one," said Madame Pomphery, pointing to the bed opposite Hermione. Ron did so, albeit grudgingly. When Malfoy was over the bed, Ron took the spell off him, and he flopped down onto the bed like a rag doll, a leg and an arm dangling off one side. Madame Pomphery came bustling over, her wand in her hand. She pointed it at Draco, said the same reviving spell Harry had used on Hermione, and Draco's eyes opened, and then he clutched his stomach. He didn't even notice where he was or who was there, he just retched over the side of the bed. Both Ron and Harry backed away, looking disgusted. Madame Pomphery quickly cleared up Draco's mess with a wave of her wand. When Draco registered where he was, he looked around and saw Harry and Ron standing there at the foot of his bed.

"Potter, Weasley, what are you doing here?" he spat.

"Why, Mr. Malfoy, they brought you up here," said Madame Pomphery. Behind Madame Pomphery's back, however, Harry and Ron had looks on their faces that clearly stated that if they'd had their way, Malfoy would still be back on the ground in the Dark Forest. Malfoy didn't have a chance to say anything else just then, because Madame Pomphery had pushed him back onto the bed so he was lying flat.

"Go on you two, you don't need to be here, both of these students need _rest_, now out!" she said, and shooed them away. Harry and Ron exchanged glances once outside the hospital wing, then headed back towards the castle doors. Neither of them spoke until they were out on the front lawn.

"Do you think we should go back to class?" asked Ron.

"No, it'll be over in ten minutes, and that's just enough time to get there, turn around, and start heading back again," said Harry, checking his watch.

"We might as well start heading for Herbology, then," said Ron gloomily. They changed their direction and turned left of where they had been heading, walking toward the greenhouses. There was a few moments of silence before Harry spoke.

"Sure hope Madame Pomphery will be able to sort out Hermione all right," he said.

"'Course she will. Wouldn't mind if Malfoy had to go to St. Mungo's, though," said Ron.

"That was some curse you sent at him," said Harry. "But Madame Pomphery will most likely cure him. She's seen worse."

"Shame. Oh well. We can always hope he gets eaten by the giant squid or something," said Ron, and they both laughed.

* * *

AN: Told you it would be longer, didn't I? That was some scene between Hermione and Draco, and I'm rather proud of it. –smiles- So, you all know what to do: REVIEW! (please?) 


	3. The Fight

AN: I am updating again! Isn't it amazing? (Anyone who knows my updating record knows that the average span between chapters for other stories is around a month or more, haha). Just a note: this chapter is a bit shorter than last, because I didn't want to foreshadow too much. Thanks to my reviewers: **dork1147, Margaret, Dead Red Head, Lancetree80, SmrtDancrGrl, **and **xxxicedfirexxx**.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Fight

The exams loomed nearer and nearer, and now, with them only a week away, Hermione's carefree self had long since gone and was replaced by the Hermione that Harry and Ron knew all too well. It seemed that her short, one night stay in the hospital wing had made her even more determined to study hard, since she had missed nearly two days. She had, again, taken to drawing up study schedules for Harry and Ron.

"Hermione, come on, why do you always do this?" complained Ron, as Hermione drew a chart on a piece of parchment in the common room.

"Because, Ron, one of these days you are actually going to use them. _Why _I didn't draw them up sooner I'll never know…" she muttered. Harry and Ron smirked. Hermione usually drew up study schedules for them around two months ahead of time, when she did her own. But it had kept slipping her mind, apparently, and now she was frantic about it.

"Hermione, you know that the only reason we ever pass exams is because we cram from your notes an hour ahead of time," said Harry lazily.

"Be that as it may, you've still not really gotten the most fabulous grades…if you would just _study_ once in a while…" she said.

"Hermione, last year we studied for a month in advance!" said Ron, and Harry agreed.

"Yes, but those were our O.W.L.s, they're different…when you heard that it could not only affect your next school year but your entire life, you were motivated a bit more," said Hermione, looking up from her chart.

"Okay Hermione, we'll actually study this year," said Harry half-heartedly. He was, of course, joking, but Hermione didn't seem to notice this.

"Good. About time you came to your senses," she said. "There," she added, handing them each a piece of parchment. "You should start on those right now, I would advise."

Ron glared at Harry.

"What?" said Harry innocently, as he took his schedule from Hermione.

* * *

The next day, at break, right after Transfiguration, Harry and Hermione were sitting in the courtyard, but Ron had gone back to Gryffindor Tower because he had forgotten his Potions book.

"Er…Hermione?" said Harry suddenly.

"Hm?" she said, looking up from the book she had been reading.

"Well, I know you're just trying to do us a favor and all, but…it would be nice of you would stop making Ron and me our study schedules and always telling us to study and stuff…" he trailed off.

"I'm just trying to make sure you both pass," she said stiffly, closing her book.

"Yes but we can do that on our own!" said Harry. "We don't need you breathing down our backs! If anything that just makes it worse!" Hermione stood up.

"Well, then, excuse me for just trying to make sure you two can graduate! And you haven't been all that pleasant lately, either, Harry!"

"What are you on about?" demanded Harry, also rising.

"You've been very rude and highly impolite to Ron and especially to me, and to a lot of other people as well! So, if anything, Harry, it's not me that's been making these last few weeks distasteful, it's you!"

"What! I haven't been 'rude and impolite' to anybody!"

"Yes, you have! I've heard you and it's very hurtful, Harry! So unless you can't improve your attitude, you won't be getting any help from me with exams!" said Hermione, and she whirled around and began walking away. Several people in the courtyard were watching with interest.

"Yeah, well, I don't need your help!" said Harry to her back. He knew how big of a lie this was. He knew that without Hermione he might as well be packing his bags right now. He knew that he needed to have Hermione around, even for reasons outside of school. But he also knew that right now he was mad, and that mattered right now above all else. And he also knew, though he wouldn't admit it to himself, that the emotions are a very dangerous thing and should be handled with care, which he most certainly was not doing right now.

* * *

Five minutes later when Harry was on his way to Potions, he met up with Ron.

"Hey Harry," said Ron. When he didn't get a reply, he asked, "Are you okay?"

Harry suddenly stopped walking.

"No, Ron, I am _not_ okay, and if you have a problem with the way I act, then you can desert me, too," snapped Harry. Ron looked taken aback.

"Wow, mate, sorry…whoever you're mad at, you don't need to take it out on me…"

Neither of them said anything for a while. They were nearly to the dungeons before Harry spoke again.

"You know, I don't think I'm going to go to class," he said, and he made an abrupt about face and turned the other way. Ron had half started to go after him, half started to ask where he was going, but, remembering Harry's temper, kept quiet and continued onto Potions alone.

* * *

Hermione stormed through the castle, intending to go to Potions early. When she made it down to the dungeons, there was only one person waiting outside Snape's door already.

Draco Malfoy.

Hermione stared daggers at him but didn't say anything; she dropped her bag on the floor and leaned her back against the wall. To her immense dislike, he spoke to her.

"Well, if it isn't the mudblood—where's your little boyfriends?" he sneered, leaning with one shoulder against the wall, his arms crossed.

"None of your business, ferret," she said coolly. His eyes narrowed.

"Better be careful Granger…with no scarhead here to save you, who knows what could happen?" he taunted. Hermione's breathing became heavier.

"Be quiet, Malfoy, I'm warning you…" said Hermione dangerously.

"And what are you going to do about it?" said Draco, smirking. Hermione whipped out her wand and stood up straight again, at the very unlucky moment that Snape came around the corner.

"Magic in the corridors, Miss Granger?" he said silkily. "Ten points from Gryffindor." He then stalked into the classroom.

Hermione glared at Malfoy with such hatred that his eyes showed a sudden flash of fear, but it disappeared almost instantly. It was like she was siphoning all her anger at Harry to Malfoy…and it felt good.

Ron arrived a few moments later, closely followed by the rest of the class. They all filed into the classroom as the bell rang. Ron and Hermione were, naturally, sitting at the same table.

"Today we will be learning about Truth Potions," said Snape quietly when they were all in their seats. "You are to read pages three hundred seventy six to three hundred eighty in your books and summarize it." Hermione was hardly paying attention. She really didn't want to be here.

Then she had a sudden idea. She scribbled a note to Ron and slid it across the table to him: "_Clear my stuff up for me after class._" She raised her hand.

"Miss Granger?" said Snape.

"Please sir, I…I think I've forgotten my book…" she said, as innocently as she could. Ron started to protest but Hermione kicked him under the table.

"And…?" prompted Snape, as if he really could care less.

"Well, I was wondering if I could go back to my dormitory to get it," said Hermione.

"Five points from Gryffindor for not bringing materials to class Miss Granger. Very well, you may retrieve your book, but quickly," said Snape.

"Thank you, sir," said Hermione, and she got up and walked out of the room.

Once she was free of the confines of the dark, damp dungeon, she wasn't sure where she wanted to go. It felt wonderful to be out of there. She should skip classes more often. Once she was back onto the main floor of the castle, she was reminded of what a beautiful day it was, and decided to roam around outside. She headed for the entrance hall.

* * *

Harry was sitting by the lake, staring out into its glistening surface, but not really seeing it. He was deep in thought. What if Hermione was right…what if he really had been unpleasant lately? Had he really been rude to her and Ron? The last people he wanted to lose contact with was them, but already it seemed he wasn't going to be talking to Hermione for a while, and as it was he had snapped at Ron on the way to Potions. Today just wasn't his day.

Little did he know just how much worse it was going to become.

* * *

Hermione walked around the grounds, unsure of where to go. She meandered around the grounds for a while before coming within sight of the Whomping Willow. If she sat under there, no one would bother her – no one liked to come near the Whomping Willow. She walked towards it, and when she got within range of it's branches, she darted quickly under them and sat right down on the knot that froze the tree. As soon as she did, the braches that had been very near smacking her froze right where they were. As long as she stayed sitting on that spot, she would be okay. That was perfectly fine with her – it was quite comfortable, surprisingly. She started thinking about what Harry had said.

"_We don't need you breathing down our backs! If anything, that just makes it worse_!"

Was she really that annoying to them? She felt tears springing to her eyes as she remembered back to their fight. It had happened only a half hour before, but it felt like an eternity. She had said some harsh things…but then again, Harry had been saying harsh things to her for weeks. He deserved what he got. But still…they were both wrong. She roughly wiped away a tear from her face. She would _not_ be the first to apologize.

* * *

AN: And there we go. I'm sorry it's shorter, but the very next thing that happens is supposed to happen in the next chapter. I put as much in here as I could without going into chapter 4. Review anyway, though!

xXx SpicySugar xXx


	4. Flashbacks

AN: Okay… this is NOT COOL, people… there are 80 HITS for this story… count 'em, EIGHTY! And how many reviews are there? 11. Only eleven stinking reviews. Now, I understand that some of those hits may be people that are re-visiting the story, and some of the hits might have been people who didn't read it, but COME ON! I know that all of the hits aren't people who didn't read it, because I got reviews for chapters 1 and 2, but only one for chapter 3. (Quick thanks to **CrazyPoet** -smile-) I know you guys are out there, so PLEASE, for the sake of all that is good, REVIEW! Okay, I'm done now. No wait, not quite yet. I think that you all may be reviewing me after this chapter because you'll be rather angry with me… but please… no flames. Life does go on in the story.

* * *

Chapter 4: Flashbacks 

Harry got tired of staring at the beautiful landscape and not really seeing anything, so he flopped down onto his back and stared at the clear, blue sky for a moment before sighing and closing his eyes. Maybe if he just fell asleep, he would wake up to find that this whole day had been a dream, and he was still lying in the dormitory, worried about exams. He had actually started dozing off when he heard a faint roaring. He tried to ignore it, but it got slowly and steadily louder. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and sat up. He turned around and squinted in the direction of the noise. He didn't see anything on the grounds, but when he looked up, he noticed two tiny dots in the distance, getting larger each moment. A split second later he realized what they were, and his stomach disappeared. He dashed toward the forest as fast as his legs could carry him.

* * *

Hermione was lazily leaning back on the trunk of the Whomping Willow, which was remaining perfectly still. She was gazing absent-mindedly into the sky, and it was a few seconds before she realized that there was something there that wasn't clouds or birds. A closer look told Hermione all she needed to know. Her eyes widened and she leapt off of the tree root, and the tree promptly began moving again. She stood there, frozen with shock, and a long branch from the Willow whacked her directly in the stomach. She fell backwards, the wind knocked out of her, but her senses knocked back into her. She promptly leapt up again and dodged as many branches as she could while running full speed toward the lake - behind which grew the Dark Forest, where she was headed. She still got scratched and bruised by some of the smaller branches, but at least didn't get knocked over again. By the time she made it near the lake, the roaring was deafening...it was right over top of her. She managed to tumble into the forest just as they passed over the lake. To her misfortune, she ran right into none other than Harry. She had barely started glaring at him when his face turned white. 

"Oh God, Hermione, GET DOWN!" he said all of a sudden. He then pushed her to the ground and he followed. Lying flat on their stomachs, they both raised their heads a little bit to see an explosion in the distance, and then felt blazing heat much closer at hand. They looked over to the castle in time to see it engulfed in flames and then... simply a mountain of rubble. Bits of stone and wood flew in every direction, including toward the forest. They both put their faces to the ground and covered their heads as they felt small pebbles raining on their backs. When it subsided, Hermione dared to lift her head up, and what she saw made her put it right back down into the ground again. Where a majestic castle had stood only minutes before was now just a mass of stone and rubble.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was no more.

"_Granger, Hermione!"_

_Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head._

"_GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat._

_-_

Hermione felt Harry sit up next to her, heard his gasp of shock, surprise, and horror.

"_Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that—no? Well, if you're sure, better be GRYFFINDOR!"_

_-_

Hermione was too busy sobbing to care about Harry.

"_I was lucky once, wasn't I?" sad Harry, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."_

_Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him._

"_Hermione!"_

"_Harry, you're a great wizard, you know."_

"_I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him._

A small mud puddle had formed under Hermione's face, putting splotches of dirt on her cheeks, but right now she could care less. Hogwarts Castle—her second home—was destroyed. The two students simply sat there for what seemed like hours, although it was only fifteen minutes, until finally, Hermione sat up and timidly spoke.

"Why?" was all she said, but it said enough. _Why did this have to happen? _she thought. _Why did Hogwarts have to be destroyed? Why do we have to face the fact that everyone we know and love is now... _she couldn't even finish the thought. There were so many things that "why" could stand for. Harry spoke next.

"Muggles...they did it," he said, in a voice that sounded like he was in such a state of shock that he couldn't feel emotion.

_Quietly, Harry tried to say something in Parseltongue. The words wouldn't come. It seemed he had to be face to face with a snake to do it._

But I'm in _Gryffindor, Harry thought. _The sorting hat wouldn't have put me here if I had Slytherin blood…

Ah, _said a nasty little voice inside his brain, _but the Sorting Hat _wanted_ to put you in Slytherin, don't you remember?

Harry turned over. He'd see Justin the next day in Herbology and he's explain that he'd been calling the snake off, not egging it on, which (he thought angrily, pummeling his pillow) any fool should have realized.

"Muggles in combat...war planes...bombs..." Hermione added.

"_What did you do?" she said fiercely. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"_

"_I just saved all our lives…" said Harry. "Get behind here—behind this bush—I'll explain."_

_Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again._

"_Did anyone see you?"_

"_Yes, haven't you been listening?" said Harry. "I saw me but I thought I was my dad! It's okay!"_

"_Harry, I can't believe it…. You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That's very, very advanced magic…."_

_-_

They weren't exactly speaking to each other.

"_Great," said Harry bitterly. "Really great. You tell him from me that I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it…. People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go…."_

"_I'm not telling him anything," said Hermione shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."_

"_I'm not running after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry said, so loudly that several owls in a nearby tree took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe me once I've got my neck broken or—"_

"_That's not funny," said Hermione quietly. "That's not funny at all."_

_-_

They were voicing their thoughts, saying them to the air. The other person was just there to hear them, and silently agree with the thoughts said aloud.

"_Okay Harry?" said Hermione, turning to him. "Ready to tell the public the truth?"_

"_I suppose," said Harry, watching Rita balancing the Quick-Quotes-Quill at the ready on the parchment between them._

"_Fire away then, Rita," said Hermione serenely, fishing a cherry out of the bottom of her glass._

* * *

AN: DON'T KILL ME! I told you that you'd probably be angry with me, as I'm sure you are. But PLEASE, don't flame this chapter, as I said before, the rest of the story isn't… quite… as sad… and besides which, this HAD to be in there for the whole plot of the story to work. Now, I'm positive there will be some smart aleck that will review and say, "This couldn't possibly happen because there are bound to be all sort of protective spells around the castle preventing it." So, to the person (or people) that I just KNOW are waiting to say that: I realize this. But as I said, it HAD to happen for the sake of the story. Please don't try and correct me on something I already know. This is the fanfiction world where anything can happen. Be thankful that this particular event isn't as crazy as some of the others I've seen…. 


	5. Truce

AN: Here I am, yet again! As it turns out, not as many people were as mad at me last chapter as I thought they were going to be! Thanks to my reviewers: **SmrtDancrGrl, Lancetree80, mysteriouscharm, GinnyGin, Shatteredangel2006, skyfire2459, Alantie Mistaniu, **and **Shadowed Rains**. A few of you were wondering if everyone in the castle is dead or not, did certain people survive, yada yada yada… as for that, I'm not going to give you an answer, because that would be pointless. I'd either crush your hopes or spoil the plot. So I'll just let you think about it _real_ hard until a time comes in the story when your questions can be answered. And, to **Shadowed Rains**: I've been using the titles of songs for my story titles lately, and yes, I used Linkin Park's "Easier To Run" for this story. (I've also used "Me and Emily" and "Never Say Goodbye.") Okay, I'm talking too much…

xXx-

Chapter 5: Truce

Harry and Hermione sat there in stunned silence for a full quarter of an hour. There wasn't a sound anywhere. There was no wind rustling the trees, no bowtruckles scampering around the tree branches, even Hermione's sobs had subsided. The two students didn't even seem to be breathing. They were mere statues, frozen in time. Finally, Harry spoke.

"We can't just sit here forever," he said.

Hermione nodded in agreement. There was a small pause.

"We really should go somewhere for help," Harry spoke.

Hermione nodded again.

But neither of them made a move to go anywhere. They simply sat there for another few minutes, staring out at the ruined remains of their beloved school, willing it to build itself and the lives it took with it back together again. But they both knew it was impossible. Eventually Hermione spoke.

"We should go to Hogsmeade. They were bound to hear the explosion."

This time, Harry nodded. They sat for another few seconds before Hermione got to her feet. Harry mechanically did the same. They walked out of the forest and in the direction of Hogsmeade, which was around the front of the castle remains. Neither said anything, but they seemed to have reached an unspoken truce. Harry voiced it.

"We should really try to forget what happened earlier with us..." he said quietly.

"Right," agreed Hermione. She stopped walking and so did Harry. "Truce?" she said, holding out her hand. Harry was silent for a slight moment before taking her hand.

"Truce," he agreed, and they walked on. Hermione paused next to the lake and looked into its reflective surface. She saw, for the first time since she had come outside, how terrible she looked. Her eyes were red, her cheeks tearstained, her hair had bits of stone in it, and she had patches of dried mud all over her face. She knelt next to the bank, and Harry had walked a few more steps before he realized she had stopped. He sat next to her. He had started to ask why she had stopped when she silently dipped her cupped hands into the water and splashed water on her face, cleaning it the best she could. Of course, she could have easily done this with magic, but she felt that the water was able to bring her back to reality.

"You're a mess, too, I'd advise doing the same," she said to Harry, without looking up from the glistening lake. She heard his hands splash into the water, and a few moments later he spoke.

"We sat down and now we might not get up again."

"We'd better get moving then," said Hermione, standing up before she lost the will to do so. Harry followed, and they again began walking toward Hogsmeade. Neither said anything until they were very near coming within sight of the village.

"Do you think anyone there knows what caused it?" asked Hermione. Harry didn't need to ask what she meant.

"I dunno. There are probably some people in the village that took muggle studies," said Harry.

"You're right, I--" but Hermione broke off and gasped. Her hand flew up to her mouth. Harry, who had been looking at her, waiting for her answer, looked ahead of them, and he gasped, too.

Ahead lay what used to be the quaint village of Hogsmeade. Now all that was left was charred remains.

Hermione's hand was still over her mouth, and she was breathing very heavily. Harry himself felt like he had just run a thousand miles, not walked a half-mile. Hermione broke down and sank to her knees as fresh tears ran down her face. Harry knelt next to her and awkwardly put his arm around her shoulders. He himself felt silent tears running down his cheeks. This was just too much. Hogwarts's demise was bad enough, but Hogsmeade, too?

Harry and Hermione sat there for a while, neither knew how long, but Harry eventually felt Hermione's breathing slow, and realized she had fallen asleep. He laid her down on the grass, and found he was rather drowsy himself. He decided to just rest his eyes a while, lay down on the grass next to Hermione, and then after he had a bit more energy, he'd wake her up...

xXx-

Harry opened his eyes three hours later to find his stomach rumbling with hunger. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 2:30 in the afternoon. He sat bolt upright and looked round at Hermione, who was still sleeping. She was on her back, her head turned to her left, in the direction of Harry. Her left arm was on her stomach and her right lay on the ground beside her. She looked so peaceful that Harry didn't want to wake her up, but then his mind caught up with his senses and he tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"Hermione...Hermione, wake up..."

She didn't move, so Harry shook her slightly.

"Hermione..."

She stirred.

"Harry..." she mumbled, "You aren't allowed in the girls' dorms..." Harry's heart gave a twang as he thought about the now nonexistent dormitories, and his emotions threatened to overtake him once more.

"You aren't in the girls' dorms, Hermione," said Harry quietly. Hermione's eyes flew open, and she saw Harry's knees next to her. She turned her head upwards and saw sky. A horrible reality sank into her chest.

"You - you mean it _wasn't_ a dream?" she said pitifully.

"I wish I could say it was," said Harry in a shaking voice, removing his hand from Hermione's shoulder now that she was awake. They didn't say anything for a moment.

"I suppose we'd better try and get to Dufftown, then..." said Hermione.

"Dufftown?" said Harry in disbelief. "But, Hermione, that's at least fifteen miles from here!"

"I know, but it's the closest town there is, and we have to get to civilization," said Hermione wearily. "We might be able to make it in five or six hours if we walk steadily."

"Which direction is it?" asked Harry, looking around.

"It's west...straight ahead..." said Hermione, pointing a shaking hand towards the remains of Hogsmeade. Harry gulped.

"We're going to have to walk through that?" he asked weakly.

"I'm afraid so," said Hermione quietly, her head moving up and down slightly. She slowly got to her feet. Harry sat on the ground for a few more seconds, wishing he could just die right there, before he did the same. They started walking, and Harry felt Hermione's hand slip into his and squeeze tightly. He knew she was scared, just like him.

They stepped onto the cobblestone road now covered in ash and remains directly in front of the first shop, and Harry kept his eyes deliberately facing straight ahead. This only worked for a few minutes, however.

"That was the Three Broomsticks..." said Hermione, stopping and looking to her right. Harry looked around to his left.

"That was Dervish and Bangs," he said. They started walking again and they both pointed out the remnants of their favorite shops.

"Look, there's Honeydukes..."

"Zonko's was there..."

"That was the post office..."

"Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop," said Harry, stopping in front of it. "I hate to say it, but I'm not sorry to see that it's gone." Hermione gave a small smile, which vanished quickly.

"Come on, we'll never get there if we keep stopping," she said, and started walking again, pulling Harry along with her. His hand was still gripped tightly in hers.

xXx-

It seemed to take an eternity to get out of the village, but they did it after about an hour. Once they were faced with the open fields in front of them, the sadness of the castle and the village seemed to leave them somewhat. They walked for two more hours and their hunger intensified. Hermione was looking especially pale.

"Harry, if I don't get something to eat soon, I'll faint..." she said, clutching her stomach.

"I know how you feel, but we still have, what, ten miles to go?" he guessed.

"I'd say so...and I'm so tired...my legs hurt terribly...can't we just stay here for a while and take another nap?" she suggested.

"No," said Harry firmly. "If we delay anymore, when you wake up you'll feel worse. We can stop for a few minutes, though," he said.

"I suppose you're right," she said, and she sank down to her knees and then lay on her back. "The grass is just so comfortable..."

"Hermione, _don't go to sleep_," said Harry harshly. She didn't reply, but sat up.

"Harry, what are we going to do when we get there?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know, Hermione..." he answered truthfully.

"Well, I suppose we'll need to try and get jobs or something...some way of getting money so we can have food..." she said.

"Let's just concentrate on that for now, we'll cover the rest of anything we'll need when we get to it, all right?"

"Right," agreed Hermione. They were silent for a few more minutes as they both sat there and relaxed. Finally, Harry spoke.

"We should probably keep going."

"Oh, do we have to? My legs still hurt terribly..." said Hermione, massaging her calves.

"Well, you'll just have to--" suddenly, Harry cut himself off. "Wait a minute, Hermione."

"What?"

"Surely you must know an...energy spell or...something," said Harry. Hermione clapped her hand to her forehead.

"Of course! In all of the...well...you know..." she trailed off, but then spoke again. "I guess I forgot I could use magic," she finished sheepishly.

"Well, do you know a spell that could help?" asked Harry.

"Yes, it's called an immunity spell. It'll make any part of us immune to pain for a certain amount of time," said Hermione, taking out her wand. "With any luck, our legs won't have the ability to feel pain for another four hours or so."

"When did you learn this?" asked Harry curiously.

"I did some background reading when we were studying Healing in Charms," she answered offhandedly. She then pointed her wand at her legs, which were stretched out in front of her. "_Immilient_," she said, and her robes covering her legs glowed faintly white for a second. She then reached out and pinched through her robes.

"Well?" asked Harry.

"I didn't feel it at all," said Hermione with satisfaction. "Okay, your turn," she said, turning to Harry. She pointed her wand at Harry's legs this time and said, "_Immilient_," and Harry felt the pain leave his legs as they glowed for a moment.

"That is one handy spell," said Harry. "I'll have to remember that."

"Well, I'd say we could continue on. We have several more hours of walking to do," said Hermione. They got up once more and headed out towards the direction of Dufftown.

xXx-

AN: Okay, and that's the end of chapter five. Please, people, there are over 400 hits for this story…. I know there are silent readers out there… so please, those of you that aren't reviewing: START REVIEWING! And, to those of you that have reviewed: KEEP reviewing! It only takes a minute! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, for the sake of all that is good (I know I've said that before) REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	6. In The Muggle World

AN: Yes, here I am! And I'm still SICK and TIRED of this hit count… over a THOUSAND hits for this story and just over thirty reviews? This is just wrong people… WRONG. But here's to those lovely people that DID review: **Lancetree80**, **PrincessLuckyCML**,** centaur 219**, **Shatteredangel2006**, **skyfire2459**, **Shadowed Rains **(I never did think about the Knight Bus, which they could have used to get to Gringotts... but then there would be no plot… and as for Hermione's parents, well… just wait a few more chapters to figure that out :wink: ), **dork1147 **(Yes, you've reviewed before :smile: ), **WJShipper4eva**, **GinnyGin **(oui, je sais. Je parle francais – L'accent ne fais pas prend…), **animerockstar**, **katepotter13 **and **anonymous **(I'm using "less mature language"? Hmm… I'll have to look into that… as for extending the scenes, I stretched them out as much as my creativity would allow… I'm still in the learning process of writing :nervous smile: The excerpts from the books were just memories sort of contradicting what had been said in the previous statement (example: "Hermione was too busy crying to care about Harry" yet after that is a memory was she WAS caring about him.) I don't really know how one can "emphasize" quotes from a book…? Thanks for your tips all the same!) 

Okay, I think I'm done now… have fun reading chapter six and REVIEW after it!

* * *

Chapter 6: In The Muggle World 

It was nearly 9:30 before Harry and Hermione caught the first glimpses of Dufftown in the distance. Hermione had re-performed the immunity charm an hour before, and their legs were back to being pain-free. They walked into the main part of the small town around 9:45.

"Well, we finally got here...now what?" said Hermione.

"I don't know," said Harry. He looked around for some sign of people still awake. He spotted a two-story building a way down the street with lights on and pointed it out.

"Look Hermione, down there," he said, pointing. Hermione looked in that direction.

"It looks like just an ordinary house," said Hermione.

"Well, we can hope the occupants are hospitable. It's the most comfortable looking place I can see."

"Okay, we'll try there. I hope they're nice people," said Hermione reluctantly. They set off for the homey looking building. When they got in front of it, however, there was a sign in the front yard. Harry squinted at it in the dim light and saw that it said, "Johnson's Bed and Breakfast."

"Wow, that's perfect, isn't it?" said Hermione, reading the sign, too.

"Yeah, finally some good luck today," added Harry. They walked up the front walk, but halfway to the door Harry stopped.

"Hermione, we're going to need some kind of story to tell them, aren't we? I mean, I'm sure they try to make conversation with their guests. And, really, how do two kids they've never seen before just turn up without any parents?"

"Well, I think we'll be staying in Dufftown for a while. I think we should come somewhat close to the truth..." said Hermione.

"Maybe...hey, how about this?" said Harry. "We're brother and sister, and our parents were murdered while we were on our way back from a day-trip in the mountains? So we just came to the nearest town there was."

"I'm not sure about that...I mean, we don't look anything alike."

"Well, one of us could be adopted," said Harry.

"Okay, you can be the adopted one, then," said Hermione. "After all, you were sort of adopted by your aunt and uncle anyway. But how were our 'parents' killed?"

"Er...a...a carjacking?" suggested Harry.

"That could work, actually," said Hermione. "But what of the fact that a thing like that would be reported on the news?"

"Oh boy...well, they wouldn't have been found for a few days, I mean, who goes looking around for cars that plummeted down a ravine or something? I suppose these people would just think that our parents hadn't been found yet." said Harry.

"But what if they call the police and tell them?" asked Hermione. She was starting to look nervous.

"Okay, so maybe this idea won't work..." said Harry.

"Wait," said Hermione. "We...we could pretend that we would prefer our parents weren't found for religious reasons or something..."

"Religious reasons?" said Harry, perplexed.

"Well, I've heard that some people don't want their dead loved ones getting cut open by an autopsy, that they just want them to 'rest in peace,' if you get what I mean."

"Oh, right," said Harry. "Okay, I think this'll work. But if they ask a question we haven't discussed, one of us will have to make up something, and we have to be sure not to contradict anything we've said before."

"Right. Okay, let's go," said Hermione. They walked the rest of the way up the walk, and Hermione pressed the doorbell. They heard sounds from within the building, then the door opened and a kind-looking woman stood there. Harry thought she somewhat resembled Mrs. Weasley, aside from the fact that this woman's hair was brown, not red.

"Why, hello there," she said kindly.

"Hello," said Hermione. "We - we were wondering if - if maybe we could, well, stay here a while?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well of course, that's what a bed and breakfast is for, come on in!" said the woman, motioning them in with her hand and walking back into the house. Harry and Hermione followed her through the foyer and a narrow hallway until they emerged into what was clearly a large and much-used kitchen. There was a huge six-burner stove on the far wall underneath a large microwave, and next to that on the wall was a double-oven. On the wall across from where Harry and Hermione stood was a large farm-style sink underneath a gorgeous bay window, which was decorated with potted plants of all sorts. Parallel to that wall was more counter space, plus a large fridge and freezer. And, to the left of the doorway was a small table that could seat four people in front of a tall window, where the woman's husband (Harry and Hermione assumed) was sitting, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book. Beyond the table was another doorway that led into what Harry and Hermione could see was the dining room, where, underneath a small chandelier, was a large table that could seat at least twelve.

"Well don't just stand there goggling in the doorway, come in, come in!" said the woman, pulling out chairs at the table for Harry and Hermione to sit in. They accepted the invitation gratefully and both gingerly sat down on the wooden chairs.

"George, these are two new guests we have for the night," said the woman. The man looked up from his book and smiled widely at Harry and Hermione.

"Well, aren't you two a sight to see!" he said jovially. He had a full, rounded voice that made Harry think of Father Christmas, and small, round spectacles on. He was also slightly balding and his dark brown hair was flecked with gray. "We haven't had guests as young as you for quite some time, have we, dear?" he said to his wife. "Why, it'll be like having James and Claire back, won't it?"

"Yes, dear, they are quite lovely," said the woman. "I'm terribly sorry, I've not introduced myself. I'm Grace Johnson, and this is my husband, George," she said, shaking Harry's and Hermione's hands.

"We're very pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson," said Hermione politely.

"Oh, I won't have any of this 'Mrs. Johnson' nonsense, it makes me feel old. Just call me Grace," she said with a smile. Hermione returned it weakly.

"Well, how did you two come about our humble home?" asked the man. Harry and Hermione shared a small glance, before Grace spoke again.

"Oh heavens, George, don't rush them, we don't even know their names, yet!" she said.

"Oh, we're sorry, how rude of us," said Hermione. "My name's Hermione Potter." Harry was about ask her why she said that when she kicked him under the table. Getting the hint, he didn't protest.

"And I'm Harry Potter," he said. "We're brother and sister."

"Oh, isn't that lovely," said Grace. "But, where are your parents?" she asked curiously. Harry looked over at Hermione, whose lower lip was trembling. He realized she was feigning being upset, so he tried to look sad, too.

"They - they were killed," said Hermione in a deliberately shaking voice. "That's why we came here," she continued. She was silent for a moment before she burst out in sobs (though her eyes were dry, Harry noticed) and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, you poor dear," said Grace, and she promptly got up and put her arms around Hermione. George put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry, meanwhile, was trying his very best to make himself look distraught by thinking about what they had left behind not twelve hours ago. It worked somewhat. He felt a silent tear or two trickling down his face. He then realized that Hermione's sobs were no longer fake, and realized that she, too, must be thinking about Hogwarts. He reached out his hand and placed it gently on her arm. She didn't even seem to notice. Grace finally took her arms off of Hermione and spoke.

"You two should be getting straight up to bed, you must have been through a terrible ordeal today. Come now, dearest, you'll be all right, you just need a good night's rest," said Grace comfortingly. Harry saw Hermione nod and pick her head up off her hands. She looked terrible - her cheeks were tear stained, and her eyes were red and puffy. She got up and let Grace lead her to the staircase leading out of the foyer.

"You should head up to bed, too, Harry," said George. He looked at Harry kindly through his glasses, and Harry took his hand and wiped his few tears off of his face, nodded, and followed Grace and Hermione up the stairs.

"I'm sorry, dears, but we've only got one room open tonight, but as you're brother and sister, you won't mind sharing a room, I daresay," said Grace, opening a door at the far end of the hallway. In it was a queen size sleigh bed, a large dresser with a mirror, two nightstands on either side of the bed, and a writing desk.

"This is wonderful, Grace, we can't thank you enough," said Harry, as he and Hermione stepped into the room.

"It's just what I do, dear. You two should go straight to sleep. We'll see you in the morning," she said, and she closed the door. There was enough moonlight streaming through the two windows in the room that Harry was able to turn on one of the bedside lamps.

"Hermione?" he said tentatively.

"Oh Harry," she said, walking over to him. "I - I still can't believe it... I mean, all this, it's just so...so terrible..."

"I know," was all he said. He took off his robe so he was just in his jeans and T-shirt and laid the robe on the desk chair. "We really should go to bed, I know we're both really tired."

"Right," said Hermione, sniffling. She, too, took off her robe, revealing jeans and a T-shirt as well, and she laid her robe on top of Harry's.

"You know, I'm surprised they didn't ask about our attire," said Harry. "I mean, how often do you see teenagers wearing robes?"

"I guess they get a lot of strange people, so they didn't bother to ask," said Hermione. She was currently "un-making" the bed. "I suppose we'll have to share the bed, then..." she said.

"Yeah," said Harry. At the moment, he was so tired that he could care less. No sooner had Hermione turned down the covers than she was under them, snuggling down against the pillow.

"Wow, this is comfy," she said quietly. Harry smiled slightly and got in on the other side of the bed. He laid his head down onto the soft pillow, and then turned toward Hermione.

"Night, Hermione," he said.

"Good night, Harry," mumbled Hermione. Harry smiled a small smile, then reached over and turned off the lamp.

* * *

AN: Okay, done that one. Please people, for the sake of HUMANITY, review! PLEASE!

-xXx SpicySugar xXx


	7. Getting Closer

AN: Hey all, back again! Thanks so much to my reviewers: **SmartDancrGrl**, **skyfire2459**, **Shadowed Rains**, **PrincessLuckyCML**, **mysteriouscharm**, **someone you don't know**, **Margaret**, **Gryffindor620 **(read the Author's note at the end of Chapter four, please :smile: ), **anonymous**, **LaLa09**, **Lyr942**, **Ms. Sakura Moon**, and **nobody**. Thanks to you all, keep it up :big smile:

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Chapter 7: Getting Closer

Hermione awoke but didn't open her eyes, and for a few seconds thought she was back in the girls' dormitory at Hogwarts. That is, until she stretched. Her right leg moved over a few inches and hit an obstruction. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Harry's sleeping face only inches from her own. She jumped back in surprise, but managed not to scream. She calmed down when she reminded herself why she and Harry were in the same bed, then she quietly slipped out from under the covers, grabbed her wand, and tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs, determined not to wake Harry nor anyone else.

Once she was downstairs, she looked at her watch; it was seven o'clock. She was wide-awake, but she just wanted to relax alone somewhere. She crept into the dining room and gasped in awe when she saw the back wall, which had not been visible from the kitchen the night before. Right in the middle was a pair of gorgeous French doors leading out into the backyard, and on either side was floor-to-ceiling windows, leaving only six inches of wall space between them and the sides of the door. She slowly walked toward the doors, unlocked them, carefully opened them, and stepped out into the fresh morning air. She gently closed them behind her, then looked around the spacious backyard. There was a large white dogwood tree in the far corner of the yard, and under it was a white cast-iron lawn furniture set. She walked quickly over to it, and when she got there, she settled herself down on one of the small chairs. She simply sat there for nearly half an hour, just thinking.

Finally, her mind wandered over to yesterday's events, and she began crying; silent tears at first, but then she put her head in her hands and sobbed worse than she had yet. She carried on with this behavior for about ten minutes before she attempted to get control of herself, and she pulled out her wand to clear up her face, though still looking determinedly at the ground. However, as she said the spell, she felt someone sit down in the chair next to her. Startled, she jumped slightly, and looked up to see Mrs. Johnson sitting next to her with a shocked expression on her face. Because Hermione had moved as she said the spell, it missed its target, and Hermione's face was still tear-streaked. She quickly looked away from Mrs. Johnson, ready for the outburst that was bound to come...

But it never did.

After a moment's pause, Hermione slowly looked back up at Mrs. Johnson and timidly asked, "Aren't you going to shout at me? Demand I leave your house or something?"

"Why, of course not, dear," said Mrs. Johnson, who looked shocked at the very thought of such an action.

"You - you aren't?" asked Hermione tentatively.

"No," said Mrs. Johnson gently.

"But - but, I'm - I'm a witch! I would have thought you would hate me because of that!"

"Oh, come now, we all have our differences... and besides, how could I just turn you away when you're in such a horrible situation?"

Hermione hesitated, wondering if she could tell the truth to Mrs. Johnson.

"Um, about that..." she started.

"Yes?"

"Well, Harry and I... we're not really siblings, we're just friends. We were... we were..." Hermione stopped. She was getting choked up again.

"You were what, dear?" pressed Mrs. Johnson.

"Our boarding school, it - it got... destroyed... and we were the only survivors..." Hermione's tears threatened to come once more, and she tried to blink them back.

"Oh, you poor thing," said Mrs. Johnson, and she put her arms around Hermione, who again burst out in sobs. Mrs. Johnson simply hugged Hermione while she shed her tears for a few minutes before she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping away her tears.

"It's quite all right, Hermione," said Mrs. Johnson. "Now, I believe we have breakfast to be getting on with."

"Right," said Hermione. "Do you mind if - if I use a bit of magic to - to clear up my face?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, no, not at all," said Mrs. Johnson. Hermione smiled weakly, then pulled her wand back out.

"_Vizacium_," she said, pointing it at her face. Her tears instantly dried and her puffy eyes returned to normal. Then the two women stood up.

"Now, what do you say to waking up Harry and getting you two to help us cook breakfast?" asked Mrs. Johnson, clearly keen to get Hermione's mind busy.

"I think that would be wonderful, Mrs. Johnson," said Hermione, who loved to cook.

"Now, Hermione, what did I tell you last night?" said Mrs. Johnson in a mock-scolding voice.

"Oh, right, sorry, Grace," said Hermione, and they began walking back to the house.

* * *

Hermione walked silently into the bedroom she and Harry were sharing and noticed Harry was still sleeping. His back was to her when she crept up next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Harry... Harry, it's time to get up..." she said quietly. No sign of life. She shook him a little. "Harry," she said a little louder. "Harry, wake up sleepy head."

"I no wanna get up, 'Mione..." came the muffled reply.

"Harry, come on, the Johnson's want us to help them cook breakfast," said Hermione.

"You can help 'em..." he said sleepily, still refusing to get up. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Harry, I need to talk to you before we go back down, please get up," she said urgently. Harry rolled over and looked at her.

"Whassamatter?" he said.

"Get up and I'll tell you, I want you to be awake," said Hermione, satisfied that he would get up now.

"Okay, okay..." he said, and he slowly swung his feet over the side of the bed and pushed himself into a standing position. He ran a hand through his hair and stretched before turning his full attention to Hermione.

"So what's up?" he said.

"Listen, this morning I was outside when Mrs. Johnson caught me doing magic. I told her the truth about us - how we're really wizards and that we're not brother and sister and about Hogwarts and stuff."

"Hermione! Why?" demanded Harry.

"What was I supposed to say to the fact that I had just said funny words with a wand in my hand?" she retorted.

"Well, I suppose you're right," he said, running his hand through his hair again. "Let's go make breakfast then, shall we?"

"After you and I both tidy ourselves up a bit... we both look terrible..." said Hermione, walking over to the dresser. "There must be a brush around here somewhere..." she said, opening and closing the dresser drawers. She found one in the bottom left drawer and pulled it out.

"Ha! Victory!" she said, running the brush through her hair, attempting to get all the tangles out, which took several minutes, as her hair hadn't been properly brushed since the previous morning. Once she was satisfied, she pulled all her hair that had come out of her scalp out of the brush and handed the brush to Harry. She then tossed the handful of hair into the desk trashcan and waited a minute while Harry tried to tame his messy hair with little success. Once he finally gave up hope on it, they both walked down to the kitchen together.

"Well, there's our two newest young guests!" said Mr. Johnson cheerfully from the kitchen table. He was reading the newspaper, but he got up when Harry and Hermione walked in. "What do you two say to pancakes, sausage, eggs, and toast for the breakfast menu?"

"That sounds great," said Harry, whose stomach was growling.

"I think so too, but can we have some fruit as well?" asked Hermione.

"Well sure, why not?" said Mrs. Johnson from the sink, who was washing her hands. "You two come over here and wash your hands, and you too, dear," she said to Harry, Hermione, and Mr. Johnson. The three people crowded around the large farm sink after Mrs. Johnson stepped away and scrubbed their hands.

"Okay," said Mr. Johnson, drying his hands on a dishtowel. "Hermione, you can be in charge of the fruit. I believe we have apples, grapes, and strawberries in the fridge. Harry, how about you mix up some scrambled eggs, we've got a full house so do about eighteen or so. Grace, you can start on the sausage and the toast, and I'll do the pancakes." Everyone went around doing their specific duties, Harry and Hermione occasionally asking where to find things like a whisk or a knife or a frying pan. While Hermione chopped up fruit on the island, she watched the sleepy-eyed guests meander down one by one. Some of them eyed Harry and Hermione, curious of where they had come from, while others just sat down at the dining room table. Eventually, six of the twelve seats were filled. Hermione finished slicing strawberries and added them to the large bowl of fruit, tossed it a bit with her hands, put a large spoon in the bowl, and carried it into the dining room.

"Breakfast will be a few more minutes, so if any of you wanted to snack on some fruit while you wait, here it is!" she said cheerfully. "I'll be back in a minute with silverware and plates." She then hurried back into the kitchen, found plates in a cabinet under the island and counted out ten. She then put them on top of the counter while she piled ten forks and ten knives on top. Then, staggering a little under the weight of such heavy china, she placed them on the dining room table. As she left she noticed three of the six people eagerly started spooning some fruit onto their plates.

"Wow, it smells wonderful in here," remarked Hermione. She looked around and saw Mr. Johnson loading more pancakes off of a griddle onto a plate that was already stacked high with them, Mrs. Johnson putting sausage and toast onto separate plates, and Harry spooning the small mountain of eggs into a large bowl.

"Hermione, dear, if you could grab butter and syrup and bring them in, that would be fabulous," said Mrs. Johnson. "Butter is in the fridge and syrup is in the upper cabinet next to it." Mrs. Johnson then carried the plates of sausage and toast into the dining room, closely followed by Mr. Johnson and Harry carrying the eggs and pancakes. Hermione retrieved the butter and syrup and came in right behind them, taking a seat next to Harry.

"Dig in everyone!" said Mr. Johnson. Hermione came to realize that even though most people didn't even know each other, it was like they were one big family. She soon got to know the people around her by chatting over the many dishes of delicious food. The man to her right was named Ralph, and he had dropped by from around Inverness, on his way to Manchester. He was a short and portly man, and he was definitely an optimist. He always had a smile on his face about something or other. The young couple across from Hermione - the Calverts - were both 23 years old and recently married the previous July. They were currently just traveling around the U.K. and staying wherever they ended up. Then there was a family of three: a father, mother, and young daughter, maybe around eight or nine. They all had blonde hair, and seemed very quiet, as Hermione hadn't heard much information from them about who they were. Most of the time, however, she was talking to the Johnsons.

"This really is a nice place you have, Grace," said Hermione.

"Oh, well, we've always wanted to do something like this, so when this house went up for sale, what was it George, seven years ago? Anyway, when the house went up for sale we snatched it up, and now look where we are!" said Mrs. Johnson with a smile.

"Yes, it has been a joy, hasn't it?" agreed Mr. Johnson. "And I believe it was eight years ago we bought the house."

"Oh, yes, I suppose you're right... I just lose track of time."

* * *

Later, after breakfast was finished and the dishes were washed, Harry and Hermione decided to take a walk outside in the back yard. For a while they just walked, not really saying anything. Suddenly, Hermione spoke.

"Harry, I know we're on a bit of rocky ground because of our argument yesterday... and I think that we should just forget about it completely. I'm really sorry, honestly... It seems so trivial now," she said quietly.

"Yeah, it does. I'm sorry, too." He stopped walking. "Friends?" he said, holding out his hand. Hermione looked at it for a second.

"Friends," she said, but when she took his hand, she pulled him into a hug. Harry was startled at first, but he wrapped his arms around Hermione's shoulders anyway. They just stayed like that for a few moments before Hermione pulled away.

"Wow, I feel so much better now," she said.

"Yeah, me too," said Harry. "So... what do you want to do?"

"We could keep walking," she suggested. "Or, we could play chess?"

Harry smiled. "Chess sounds great," he said, and they both walked back toward the house to ask the Johnsons if they had a chess set.

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AN: REVIEW! 


	8. Discovered!

AN: Well, the reviews keep coming in, so I'll keep updating! Keep it up you guys! Thanks to: **mysteriouscharm**, **PrincessLuckyCML**, **Shadowed Rains**, **Orlandoroxmysox** (I don't mind long reviews too much as long as they aren't flames :smile: ), **hyperactivecookie** (I feel very highly complimented!), **Parking Lot **(They didn't look closer because if they had, it would have ruined the plot. Trust me, and take that statement how you wish… :evil smile: ), **SmrtDancrGrl**, **Tritium**, **dork1147** (one of the _best_? I'm flattered!), **katepotter13**, **yongweeperson**, **CountingSheep123 **(apology accepted :smile: ), **gidget89** (check the genre of the story, please… :wink: ), **Iluv2act**, **nobody**, **the scarlet bohemian **(I'll have to re-proof my story… I do have an editor who apparently isn't quite up to scrath…), and **Ms. Sakura Moon**!

And, for all of those who have been asking me… my stories lately are inspired by song titles, and this one DID come from Linkin Park's "Easier To Run."

Also, for the mentions of money in this chapter and all future chapters, I use "dollars" because I don't know how many dollars it is to a pound...

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Chapter 8: Discovered!

It had been a week since Harry and Hermione had shown up on the Johnsons' doorstep, and so far they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They had become accustomed to the "bed and breakfast way of life," as Harry called it, and the both of them had fun each morning cooking breakfast for new guests. Mrs. Johnson had taken them shopping and gotten them each several new outfits to last them until they were able to get out on their own. And, to top it off, Mr. Johnson had started paying them each ten dollars to "bus" the tables and for their help with cooking. Although it wasn't much, it made them feel pretty good, since they got to have their own money. So far they had saved all of their ten dollars a day, which meant they had a total ofa hundred twentydollars. They were so caught up in their new way of life that they had nearly forgotten about Hogwarts, until Hermione pulled Harry aside one day after dinner to talk to him in their bedroom.

"Harry, I love it here, and I know you do, too, but we have to get home."

"Home? Hermione, my home got blown to pieces a week ago. As of right now, I consider this my home," responded Harry.

"Harry, where do you think we are? On vacation? We are taking advantage of the hospitality of two of the nicest people I've ever met, and they aren't expecting us to stay here forever!" said Hermione harshly.

"Okay Hermione, where do you propose we go?" asked Harry with a slight sarcastic edge.

"I'd say the smartest place would be back to my house," said Hermione matter-of-factly. Harry seemed shocked by this prospect.

"Why didn't we think of that before? We could have just called your parents and asked them to pick us up!" said Harry.

"No, we couldn't. In their last letter to me back at school, they told me they were going on vacation to Ireland for a month. They're still there, and will be until about two weeks from now," said Hermione, as if this wasn't really a problem.

"So how are we going to get back to your house?" asked Harry.

"I've got it all worked out, don't worry." Harry had a brief memory of shoving two burly Slytherins into a broom closet from the last time she had said that, but let her continue anyway. "We'll keep working here for another few days, then we'll have enough money for two one-way plane tickets to London and just enough left over for a couple bus tickets to take us to my house. Then we'll just wait for my parents to come home."

"Sounds simple enough, I suppose..." said Harry. Simpler than a lot of things he'd had to do, anyway...

"Right. I thought you would see it my way. Now, how about we take a walk?" suggested Hermione. "It's a beautiful day."

"Sounds like a good idea. Let's go," said Harry, walking toward the bedroom door. Hermione followed him.

* * *

Hermione and Harry stayed outside until it was dark.

"Hermione, do you want to keep walking? I can hardly see in front of me..." said Harry.

"Yes, I want to keep walking."

"But Hermione, we must have walked around and around this property at least twenty times!" said Harry.

"Well, I'll light my wand and then we'll be able to see," said Hermione, reaching for her wand, which she kept tucked in the waist of her jeans.

"How about we just sit down?" suggested Harry. They were just passing the white lawn furniture set.

"All right," said Hermione, but she still pulled out her wand.

"Hermione, don't! What if Mr. Johnson sees it?"

"Oh, he'll just think it's a flashlight or something..." said Hermione, unconcerned. She pointed her wand out in front of her and said, "_Lumos_." Immediately, a dim but sufficient light surrounded the two teens.

"Well, I have to admit, it's nice to be able to see," said Harry. They sat there for a few minutes, talking, until the chill the night typically brought on settled over them.

"Oh, I'm getting cold, let's go in," said Hermione, standing up.

"Good idea," said Harry, also rising. They used the wand light to guide them to the back doors leading into the dining room, then Hermione quietly said, "_Nox_." Instantly, the wand light went out, and they were met with a faint light coming from a room at the front of the house. They quietly stepped in, and, as they did, the kitchen light went on. When they appeared in the doorway, they saw Mr. Johnson rummaging around in the freezer. When he emerged, he was holding a container of French vanilla ice cream.

"Ah, there you two are!" he said, shutting the freezer door. "I was just going to come and find you and see if you wanted some--" but he stopped talking as his eyes wandered down Hermione's arm. Hermione looked down when she saw his gaze freeze and realized her wand was still held in her hand. She tried to hide it, but too late, the damage was done. She gulped, as did Harry.

"_What was that_?" he said harshly, pointing directly at Hermione's arm.

"Oh, it - it was nothing, just a stick we found outside..." said Hermione. She realized too late that this was a very lame excuse.

"And why exactly would you want to bring a simple stick into the house?" he said in a voice that was clearly very close to yelling, but he was still speaking at normal volume.

"Um - we..." but Hermione couldn't come up with an answer.

"Let me see that 'stick'," said Mr. Johnson. Hermione hesitated.

"_Let me see it!_" he demanded again. Hermione, resolved for the worst, held out her hand slowly, exposing her wand. Mr. Johnson snatched it up and examined it quickly.

"If this is just a stick..." he said coyly, "you wouldn't mind if I broke it then, would you?" The pressure in his hands holding the wand visibly tightened.

"No! Don't break it!" said Hermione desperately.

"Then what is it?" demanded Mr. Johnson. Hermione kept silent, biting her lip.

"Tell me what it is or it gets snapped!" said Mr. Johnson angrily, and the pressure in his hands again tightened.

"It's a wand!" said Hermione breathlessly. "There, I said it, now give it back!"

While Mr. Johnson played around with Hermione's already unstable emotions, Harry was just realizing that his wand was tucked in his waistband. He and Hermione had played another chess game earlier, and he had put it there after trying to charm the pieces to obey his voice rather than his hands. He slowly moved his hand to his waistband and gripped his wand. Mr. Johnson now seemed completely determined to snap the wand, and just before Hermione was about to burst into tears at the thought of losing her wand, Harry intervened.

"_Expelliarmus_!" he yelled, at the same moment that Mrs. Johnson came into the room, curious as to what all the loud voices were about. Hermione's wand flew out of Mr. Johnson's hand and Harry caught it and gave it to Hermione.

"Harry, Hermione! What happened?" asked Mrs. Johnson, shocked to see them using magic in front of her unknowing husband.

"Grace, these two... _children_... have _wands _in their possession!" said Mr. Johnson.

"I knew that already," said Mrs. Johnson coolly, but Harry detected a flicker of fear in her eyes.

"YOU WHAT!" yelled Mr. Johnson, rounding on his wife. She did look a little frightened...

"_Silencio_!" said Hermione, pointing her wand at Mr. Johnson. That didn't stop him from moving, however, and before either of the teens could do anything more, Mr. Johnson had slapped Mrs. Johnson hard across the face, and his mouth was moving rapidly, although none of them knew what he was saying.

"_Stupefy_!" said Harry, also pointing his wand at Mr. Johnson. He immediately fell to the floor where he stood. Mrs. Johnson was breathing heavily.

"Mrs. Johnson, we are so sorry... we should never have come here, we've ruined you and your husband," said Hermione.

"Oh no, it's okay... what did you do to him?" she asked faintly, looking at her husband lying on the kitchen floor.

"I put a silencing charm on him and them Harry stunned him," responded Hermione. "He'sknocked outat the moment."

"If you want us to, we can erase his memory so he won't remember anything about us," said Harry. "That way you won't have to deal with him when he wakes up and we're not here."

"You mean you two are leaving?" asked Mrs. Johnson desperately.

"Yes, we're so sorry, but we have to, now that he knows about us... he clearly doesn't like our kind," said Hermione sadly.

"Should I use a memory charm"? asked Harry again.

"Well, I suppose that would be all for the best..." said Mrs. Johnson. "Go ahead, Harry." Harry looked down at Mr. Johnson and pointed his wand at him.

"_Obliviate_!" he said loudly. Mr. Johnson's head glowed white for a minute before his appearancereturned to normal.

"He should wake up sometime tomorrow morning," said Hermione. "Harry, I'll get our things together, and you can bring Mr. Johnson up to his bed."

"Right," said Harry.

"Mrs. Johnson, do you have a suitcase or two Harry and I could borrow?" asked Hermione.

"Oh yes, just upstairs," said Mrs. Johnson. She and Hermione went upstairs and they were soon followed by Harry, who was levitating Mr. Johnson up the stairs and into the master bedroom. By the time Harry had placed Mr. Johnson on the bed and joined Hermione and Mrs. Johnson in their bedroom, most of their few belongings were packed into two small suitcases.

"There is a nice little motel just down the street from here," Mrs. Johnson was saying. "It's very cheap, but still quite nice. It's called the Lake Shore Motel, I'd advise staying there. Can I give you any money to help you out?"

"Oh no, Mrs. Johnson, you've helped us with so much, we couldn't possibly accept any more," said Hermione, and she was so firm that Mrs. Johnson didn't ask again. She just walked them down the stairs and out to the front porch.

"You two take care," said Mrs. Johnson with tears in her eyes. Harry and Hermione had become like a son and daughter to her.

"We will, and you as well," said Hermione. They each gave Mrs. Johnson one last hug before she wished them luck and closed the door. Hermione then began walking, Harry close behind her.

"I see the motel, it's just down that way," said Hermione, pointing to a long two-story building a few blocks away.

"Oh yeah, I see it, too," said Harry. The rest of their walk was spent in silence until they opened the door to the lobby of the motel. They then stepped up to the counter, where a very bored looking man was standing.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Yes, we'd like a room for the night, how much will that be?" asked Hermione.

"Are you minors?" asked the man in the same bored voice.

"Yes, we're both sixteen," said Hermione.

"That'll be sixty dollars total for the two of you," said the man. Harry fished his sixty dollars out of his suitcase and handed it to the man. The man the placed the money into a cash register, then gave them a blue card key.

"You're in room 115. Just go down that hallway there and keep going until the end."

"Thank you," said Hermione. She and Harry then walked down the hallway they had been directed to and eventually came to room 115. Hermione unlocked the door with the card key and they stepped into a room with two double beds, a bathroom, a small two-person table, a dresser with a TV on top of it, and a sliding door on the opposite wall.

"Yes! Finally, we get our own beds!" said Harry, flopping down on one of them.

"Yes, it's wonderful, isn't it?" said Hermione, placing her suitcase on the one closer to the sliding door. She opened the curtains covering the door and beckoned Harry over.

"Harry, look! It's no wonder it's called Lake Shore Motel! It's right on the edge of a gorgeous lake! It's even got a little pier and everything!" Harry walked over next to Hermione and looked out at the lake, lit up with artificial lights on the back of the motel. It did look nice.

"I guess we should consider ourselves privileged to get a water-front room," said Harry with a smile.

"But Harry, if this issixty dollars a night, we only have enough money for just one more night, and then we won't have any left for our plane tickets," said Hermione, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Oh, what do we do?"

"Well, we could find jobs... there's a restaurant right across the street, we could offer to work there, since we already have some experience with that sort of thing," suggested Harry.

"Not a bad idea, actually. We'll go there first thing in the morning," said Hermione. Then she yawned. "Wow, I am so tired..." she said. "Let's just go to bed."

"Okay, sounds good," said Harry, also yawning. They both took respective trips to the bathroom to change their clothes, and then got into their temporary beds. The last thought Hermione had before she drifted off to sleep was that they had better find a way to get some money tomorrow, or they would be considered legally homeless.

* * *

AN: Now, there have been LOTS of people asking me questions that are vital to the plot, such as "Is everyone REALLY dead?" and "How could you just BLOW UP everyone like that?" and so forth… so I'll let you all in on a little secret that I put up in my profile a couple days ago or something: _I tell plot secrets to those I'm good friends with_. In other words, if I get to know you a little outside of fanfiction dot net in instant messages, I might tell you a thing or two that you think you'll just DIE without… this not only applies to this story but others as well. I've already revealed a huge secret to a certain someone, whom I will not disclose the name of should you kidnap and torture her into revealing that piece of information… however, YOU TOO could become one of the people that knows the secrets of the plot! My screen names are as follows: AIM – Prettykitty368; and MSN – TinkerbellPrincess165. I hope to talk to some of you soon… and if you should IM me, please tell me you're a reviewer so I know who you are… I believe this AN is long enough…

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	9. Dreams Do Come True

AN: You guys are skipping out on reviewing again:cries: Please, keep up your reviews! I thought I'd get a ton for the last chapter… well… here's hoping this one fairs better… :weak smile: Thanks to those that DID review: **mysteriouscharm**, **gidget89** (sadly, the review-hit ratio is NOT improving…), **orlandoroxmysox**, **Shadowed Rains **(I'm terribly sorry for not explaining things fully, but, you see, I took for granted that you would simply know these things… writer's weakness. To answer your questions… it's common knowledge that a wand is an instrument used to do magic and Mr. Johnson had a particular fear of magic if you didn't infer that :sweatdrop: ; Muggles CAN see Hogwarts, but to them it's an old ruin, which is why they saw no problem in bombing it in the first place; and Voldemort doesn't have to be in EVERY story, does he? He was hardly in the third book at all, he was simply mentioned! Again, I'm sorry for not explaining these questions, I just thought you would be able to surmise the answers for yourselves…), **nobody**, **katepotter13**, **Gryffindor620** (Indeed it is a series of unfortunate events, but it DOES get better!), and **dork1147**! Please, guys, keep it up:big smile:

* * *

Chapter 9: Dreams Do Come True

The next morning, Hermione had awoken before Harry, and had taken a shower while he was sleeping. Now, as she sat on her bed and combed out her wet hair, she began thinking about how she and Harry were going to do their "interview" at the restaurant. As long as it got them the job, she didn't care what they did. The prospect of living on the street scared her very much. Just as she got finished combing her hair and charming it dry, Harry stirred and rolled onto his back.

"Good morning, Harry," said Hermione cheerfully.

"Morning," he grumbled. Then he sat up and stretched.

"I'd suggest getting a shower, Harry; you'll want to be fresh for our interview today," said Hermione.

"Oh, right," said Harry, remembering. He quickly grabbed a set of clothes and jumped into the bathroom. Hermione took that chance to open the curtains to the slider door, which she had closed the previous evening. The sky looked dismal, but Hermione didn't think it would rain just yet.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, at 9:00, the two teenagers were walking across the street to the small restaurant.

"I hope this goes well..." said Hermione nervously.

"Relax, Hermione, I'm sure it'll be fine," comforted Harry. They walked into the restaurant, and the smell of breakfast cooking made both of their stomachs growl. Hermione had just noticed a "Help Wanted" sign in the window.

"Harry, look!" she said, pointing to it.

"Wow, we're in luck. Let's find the manager." They walked up to the front counter where there was a hostess waiting for someone to ask to be seated. She was fairly short and skinny, with curly white-blonde hair.

"Party of two?" she asked, assuming they were there to eat.

"Oh, no, we were looking for the manager," said Hermione.

"Oh," said the hostess. "Follow me." She then led them behind the counter to a door labeled "MANAGER."

"Just knock on the door, he should answer. He's a pleasant guy for the most part," said the hostess. She then walked back to her post at the front of the restaurant. Harry took a deep breath and then knocked on the door three times. It opened almost immediately, and standing in the doorway was a tall, fairly plump man in black slacks and a white shirt, accessorized with a red and black striped tie.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes, um, we noticed your Help Wanted sign and--" Hermione started, but the manager cut her off.

"Say no more, young miss, come in, come in!" he said, motioning them into his office. He closed the door once the three of them were inside and he sat down behind his desk, which had a flat-screen computer on it and various papers spread around. The room was fairly small, and the walls were stark white, but were decorated with certificates for the restaurant and pictures of the manager's family.

"Well, don't just stand there, sit down!" said the manager cheerfully, motioning to two chairs across from his desk. Harry and Hermione did as they were told.

"My name is Bill Larrep, the manager, as you probably guessed. So, you two youngsters saw the Help Wanted sign, correct?" he asked.

They both nodded.

"And now you want jobs, right?"

They nodded again.

"Well, I just so happen to have two spots open - a server position and a busser position - but I need to hear if you have any experience, first," said Mr. Larrep. Hermione jumped right in.

"Well, we were working at a Bed and Breakfast for a while, and we both got a lot of experience with serving and bussing."

"Really?" said Mr. Larrep interestedly. "How long is 'a while'?"

"About a week," said Hermione, realizing that wasn't very long.

"Mmhmm...well, if I did hire you, when would you want to start?" he asked.

"We could start today if you wanted us to," said Harry. Mr. Larrep raised his eyebrows.

"All right, I'm going to need your names and addresses," he said, pushing a piece of paper toward each of them. Hermione glanced at the paper and then back at Mr. Larrep.

"Um, Mr. Larrep?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Well, we don't exactly have an address... we're currently living at the Lake Shore Motel across the street. We only have just enough money to get us through one more night there. That's why we came here in the first place," said Hermione.

"Ah," said Mr. Larrep. "Well, you can just say 'Lake Shore Motel' for your address, but I do need your names." Hermione thought for a half-second before kicking Harry's foot lightly and making him look at her paper. She was deliberately writing "Hermione Potter." Harry got what she was trying to say, and continued filling out his paper with, "Harry Potter, Lake Shore Motel, Room 115." When Mr. Larrep got their papers back and he glanced at them, he looked at Harry and Hermione curiously.

"How old are you two?" he asked.

"We're both sixteen, we're brother and sister," said Hermione. Mr. Larrep looked at her suspiciously, but didn't question the fact.

"Well, I should stop over to your room sometime today, so wait for me," he said with a wink.

"Thank you, sir," said Hermione politely, standing, and Harry following her lead. Mr. Larrep ushered them out the door of his office, him following.

"How about I treat you two to breakfast?" he offered kindly.

"That would be great, Mr. Larrep," said Hermione, who couldn't ignore her stomach's continuous growling. Mr. Larrep said something to the hostess, who promptly led the three of them over to a booth by a front window.

* * *

An hour later, Harry and Hermione were making the journey back across the quiet street to their hotel. The sky hadn't cleared, and it looked darker if anything to Hermione. Once they were back inside their hotel room, Hermione spoke.

"Well, that seemed promising, didn't it?" she stated.

"Yeah," said Harry, who was staring out at the lake.

"Harry? You seem distracted," said Hermione, walking over to him.

"Oh, I do?" he said, turning to her. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to be shut up in this room. Why don't we go outside?"

"But, Harry, it looks like it could rain at any moment!" said Hermione, glancing up at the sky.

"Oh, who cares? Come on!" he said, taking her hand and nearly dragging her out to the pier. They ran all they way to the edge of the small dock, and Harry quickly sat down on the edge, Hermione following. Once Harry was sitting down, however, a strange feeling came over him. It felt like he had been sitting here, in this very spot, some other time recently; but he knew that he had never been to Dufftown in his life. He brushed the feeling off and began slowly swinging his legs back and forth; they were about a foot above the water. To his left, Hermione was doing the same. Neither of them said anything, but before he knew what he was doing, he had put his arm around Hermione's waist. To his surprise, she just sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. He let her stay like this for a few seconds before speaking.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Oh, nothing's wrong!" said Hermione, sitting up and looking him. "It's just... who would've thought, that, after all this...?" she trailed off.

"I know," said Harry simply. After all this... their school - their home - had been destroyed, they had walked for fifteen miles before finding solace in a small-town bed and breakfast, of which they were kicked out a week later because of their wizarding heritage, and now they were living in a motel, and the decision of one man decided if they could stay there or not. How could so much happen to two helpless teenagers in just a week and a half? Harry turned to look at Hermione and saw that she was looking back. She made to turn away, embarrassed; but Harry, who had felt something completely new to him in that split-second, put his hand on her chin and kept her looking at him.

"Don't," was all he said. She looked at him with questioning eyes, and he just smiled. He leaned toward her... she closed her eyes and so did he... his heart was beating uncontrollably... his lips met tenderly with hers... before he knew it, Hermione was kissing him back, and they were both oblivious to the low, rolling thunder coming ever closer. By the time they broke away, gentle raindrops had started to fall.

"It's raining," said Harry, indicating that maybe they should go inside.

"Who cares?" said Hermione giddily, and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him again. When they pulled away the second time, the rain was coming down harder, and they were already close to being completely soaked to the skin, but a lightning strike fairly close at hand made them both stand up.

"We really should go inside," said Harry.

"Yeah," agreed Hermione, who was starting to shiver. Harry took her hand and they both walked back to the hotel room.

* * *

About two hours later, when Harry and Hermione were snuggled together under the covers of his bed watching TV, there was a knock on their hotel door.

"That must be Mr. Larrep," said Hermione.

"I'll get it," said Harry. He got out from under the covers, walked over to the door and opened it. As suspected, Mr. Larrep stood there.

"May I come in?" he asked politely, glancing at Harry and then beyond him to Hermione laying in the bed.

"Yes, please do," said Harry, standing aside and letting Mr. Larrep pass him. Harry then shut the door and followed Mr. Larrep over to the small table. Hermione got out from under the covers and sat on the end of the bed so she could be closer to them.

"Well, I'm not going to beat around the bush here," said Mr. Larrep. "I've thought about all you told me during our interview, and I think you two would be wonderful at the restaurant. Your hours would be from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon, Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday. You can start tomorrow morning if that isn't too inconvenient."

"Oh no, tomorrow morning is great!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Very good. I wanted to hire one of you as a busser and one of you as a server, but I figured I would let you pick which one you wanted to do," said Mr. Larrep.

Harry, who didn't pride himself on social skills or memory, volunteered to be the busser, while Hermione was very enthusiastic about being a server.

"Jolly good. Now, a word about how you will be paid," said Mr. Larrep, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Harry, your salary will be five dollars and seventy-five cents an hour, and Hermione's will be six dollars and fifty cents an hour. That makes a total between the two of you of seventy-three dollars and fifty cents a day, and two hundred twenty dollars and fifty cents a week, plus tips, which should cover what the salary doesn't. However, because of your current - er, situation, I figured I would pay you daily rather than weekly. And also, any meals you would choose to have at the restaurant would be discounted by fifty percent. Any questions?"

Harry and Hermione both shook their heads.

"Excellent! Well, I will see the both of you in the morning at eight thirty. Then I'll give you your appropriate attire, give you a quick overview of your jobs, and you'll be off on your first day of work!" he said, standing up from his chair.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Larrep," said Harry, also rising.

"Yes, you have no idea how much we appreciate this," added Hermione. Harry walked Mr. Larrep the short distance to the door, and when he closed it behind him, he whipped around to face Hermione and flashed her a huge smile, before he ran over to the bed and kissed her quickly.

"We did it Hermione!" was all he could think of to say.

"Yes, Harry, yes we did," she said, smiling, and they embraced each other in a kiss again.

* * *

AN: Now, come ON people, if you don't want to review this chapter then something must be WRONG with you! PLEASE, REVIEW AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	10. The Owl

AN: YES:jumps in happiness: My reviewers came back! Thanks much to: **nobody**, **mysteriouscharm**, **Shatteredangel2006**, **PrincessLuckyCML**, **Shadowed Rains **(they bombed Scotland because if they hadn't there would be no plot :smile: And hey, London was just bombed :cries: …), **Margaret**, **SmrtDancrGrl**, **centaur219 **( :feels highly complimented: ), **yongweeperson**, **Kitaru**, **gidget89** (now I could swear that I said I didn't know the dollar-pound ratio in the Author's Note for chapter 8 and said I was just going to use dollars… however, now I know that a dollar is equal to 1.90 pounds), **Tay**, **orlandoroxmysox **(I don't know how you managed to review twice…), **skyfire2459**, **Hermione-Potter-52036**, **-RWAR-**, **maraudersrock77 **(yay for new reviewers!), **GinnyGin,** and a HUGE thank you goes out that my ONE HUNDREDTH REVIEWER: **stacey**! You rock:big smile:

Now, I don't know why, but a lot of you had this strange notion that Harry and Hermione were stupid enough to snog in public… honestly, don't you think they (or at least Hermione) know better than that?

And also, although I now know what is equal to a pound in dollars, I'm too lazy to change the references in the entire story so I'll leave it in American currency. :big smile:

* * *

Chapter 10: The Owl

Harry and Hermione were still thinking about how great it was that they were hired an hour later.

"Hermione," said Harry suddenly. "How much did he say we were being paid?"

"I think it was a total of two hundred twenty dollars and fifty cents for both of us per week," responded Hermione.

"But at sixty dollars a night, that's... over four hundred dollars a week."

"But he said we'd be getting tips, too, remember?"

"That can't be that much, though," said Harry.

"You'd be surprised," said Hermione. She opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a calculator. "Let's think about this. If each party that comes in is an average of three people, that's about thirty dollars per meal. Most people give about a sixteen percent tip, so..." she quickly punched in some numbers on the calculator. "About four dollars and eighty cents per meal."

"That's not much, Hermione," said Harry. Hermione's fingers started rapidly pressing buttons on the calculator.

"Keep in mind, Harry, we're working six hours a day. Now, there would be an average of about, oh, I'd say four tables served an hour, so, that would be approximately nineteen dollars and twenty cents per hour. Multiply that by six hours a day and that's a hundred fifteen dollars and twenty dollars a day, times three days a week is three hundred forty five dollars and sixty cents a week. Add that to our two hundred twenty already and that makes five hundred sixty six dollars and ten cents. Approximately."

"Wow, so we'll have money to spare," said Harry.

"But we have to save it. Remember, we're still trying to get plane tickets to my house, which should only take about another two weeks."

"But Hermione, didn't you say your parents would be home in about two weeks?" asked Harry curiously. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Yes, I suppose they would be, actually, you're right. So we can just call them and ask them to pick us up!" she said excitedly. Things were actually starting to get better for them.

"Wow, Hermione, I thought this rain cloud over us would never lift. It seems like it's finally dissipating," he said with a smile. Hermione glanced out the slider door.

"And look! It's stopped raining outside, too!" she pointed out.

"Want to take a walk?" asked Harry. He had come to like their walks that they had started at the Johnson's.

"Sure, why not?" responded Hermione. Harry opened the slider door and they walked onto the pier hand in hand.

* * *

The next day, Hermione and Harry reported for their job at eight thirty as they had been told. Once they were inside, Mr. Larrep gave them each a white shirt, dark blue pants, and a red apron, plus nametags. He showed them to the restrooms to change, and once they were in uniform, he gave them a short briefing on the restaurant policies, how their jobs should be done, and where they would be serving and bussing that day. Harry and Hermione were both fairly excited as they waited for the doors to open in five minutes. 

"Wow, Harry, I can hardly believe it... we have jobs now!" said Hermione.

Her good mood stayed throughout the day, even when she got an irritable couple that complained about everything she did around the lunch hour. She was just refilling the husband's drink of that particular couple when she saw something that made her heart stop.

An owl flew past the window.

She was so intently staring at the bird sitting on the outside railing that she didn't notice when the man's soda started pouring over the rim of the glass.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" said the man, outraged. Hermione gasped and stopped pouring immediately.

"Oh sir, I'm so sorry, I just got distracted..." she said.

"Obviously!" he said. Hermione apologized again and again while she mopped up the sticky mess with the table napkins, and then she went to find Harry, who turned out to be in the kitchen. She quickly walked up to him.

"Harry, something's up," was all she said.

"What do you mean, 'something's up'?" asked Harry.

"I just saw an owl fly past the window. It's sitting on the outside railing, and if someone sees it..."

"What!" said Harry. "There's an owl outside?"

"Yes, I have to go and get it! Cover my tables for me real quick, will you?" she asked.

"Okay," said Harry, and Hermione dashed out the front doors of the restaurant and to the side where there was a ramp that led to the side door with a railing, on which the gray eagle owl was sitting.

_That's funny... _Hermione thought. _I_ _could swear that I've seen this owl before..._

She brushed the thought aside and looked to see if the bird had a letter, and it did. She raised a tentative hand toward it, and when it made no objection to her grasping the letter, she untied it from the owl's leg. Turning it over, she saw the names on the front and her breath caught in her throat. There, clearly printed in shining black ink, were two names.

_Harry Potter and Hermione Granger._

Harry, who had been watching from inside, quickly called over another waitress and asked her to look over Hermione's tables while he went outside to check on why Hermione was looking so shocked.

"Hermione what is it?" asked Harry.

"It's a letter... addressed to us..." she said faintly.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Open it, let's see what it says," said Harry. Hermione carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. She silently read it while Harry looked over her shoulder.

_To Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, if you're alive:_

_We don't know exactly what happened as of yet, but, as you most likely know, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry no longer exists. However, there were survivors. Yes, you read correctly. The entire sixth year Potions class is still around, some in worse conditions than others. A few are still unconscious, but most are badly wounded. Don't worry, nothing life-threatening. I was the first to recover enough to be able to use a quill, so I was the one appointed to write you this letter. If you do get this, please send a return letter with the sent owl, telling us where you are, and we should be able to get a team of wizards together to come and rescue you._

_Draco Malfoy_

Harry looked at the letter, at Hermione, and then back at the letter again. Hermione, meanwhile, was scanning the letter once more.

"Hermione?" said Harry, his voice shaking.

"Yes, Harry…?" she asked quietly.

"Does that say what I think it says? And is it from who I think it is?"

"Yes, Harry. Draco Malfoy wrote to us to tell us there were survivors," she responded simply.

"Well, we need to write back!" said Harry urgently.

"Not now! We have to wait until we get back to the motel. If you could take this owl back to our room, if it doesn't have any objections, I'll cover for you," said Hermione. As she walked back inside, she saw Harry walking across the road, with the owl perched on his arm. She then returned to her tables and told the waitress covering them that she could go back to her own tables and that Hermione would split her tips for those tables with her. She noticed the irritable couple from earlier was done with their lunch, and she walked over to them.

"I'll take these plates for you," she said, taking the two empty dishes up off of the table. "Can I offer you two any dessert?"

"Coffee, if you have it," said the man. "Two cups, and bring cream and sugar!" he snapped.

"Yes, sir, I'll have them right out," said Hermione, grumbling in her mind about impolite people. On her way to the kitchen, Mr. Larrep stopped her.

"Excuse me, Hermione? Have you seen Harry?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, he went back over the motel real quick to get medicine, he's got a bit of a stomach ache. He should be back really soon," said Hermione, making up a lie on the spot.

"Oh. Well, you tell him when he comes back that we have plenty of medicine around here for our employees, okay?"

"I'll do that, sir," said Hermione. Mr. Larrep nodded, smiled, and walked away.

* * *

The next three hours seemed to drag by for Harry and Hermione, but finally they were walking back over to the motel. 

"What did you do with the owl, Harry?" asked Hermione curiously.

"I wasn't sure what to do with it, actually. I sort of just left it in the room and told it to be good…" said Harry sheepishly.

"Well, I hope it's a well-behaved owl," said Hermione as they walked down the motel hallway. She pulled their card key out of her pocket and slid it through the lock, then opened the door. She was expecting pillows to be torn, bedding to be shredded, droppings all over the floor…

But there was the owl, sitting quite contentedly on Harry's bed. Nothing was disturbed at all. Hermione was truly amazed.

"That's right where I left him," said Harry in disbelief.

"Come on, let's write a reply. Hermione found a pen by the television and turned the letter over to reply on the back. After the two of them decided on what to say and crossing several things out, they came up with the final letter:

_Draco Malfoy,_

_You have no idea how glad we are to hear that there were survivors. We were both outside of the castle when it happened. As to what exactly did happen, it was apparently a muggle combat practice, and fighter planes bombed Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. I guess the disguise charms on the castle and the village caused the muggles to think that both sites were abandoned and no one would miss them. We are currently staying at the Lake Shore Motel in Dufftown. We won't tell you the whole sob story, but let's just say that it will be nice to see some familiar faces. Please let us know an approximation of when you'll be coming to pick us up, as we have developed a sort of lifestyle here in Dufftown. And also, could we please have a status report of everyone that survived? We're worried about everyone and would like to know their condition._

_Harry Potter and Hermione Granger._

"Well, I think that's sufficient," said Hermione, reading it over for the twentieth time.

"Yes, that's what you said when you read it the third time, let's just send it out," said Harry, who was eager for "rescue."

"All right, all right," said Hermione. She walked over to the owl still sitting on the bed and re-tied the letter to its leg.

"You have a safe journey and bring us more news soon, okay?" said Hermione to it gently. She then let the owl perch on her arm, opened the slider door, and let it fly away.

"Well, Harry, it seems like every cloud really does have a silver lining," she said.

"Really? Name the silver linings for all the dark clouds that have been over us for the past two weeks," said Harry.

"Okay. Our argument actually brought us closer together; Hogwarts' demise actually had survivors; walking fifteen miles made our legs stronger; although Mr. Johnson kicked us out, we met very nice people while staying with them; staying in a motel and getting jobs has taught us responsibility. Need I say more?"

"No, you've made your point. I guess you're right. I really need to start being an optimist like you," said Harry.

"Me? An optimist? You must be joking," said Hermione with a giggle.

"Nope, not at all," said Harry with a devilish grin, and he quickly pulled her into a long kiss.

* * *

AN: Okay, now I trust you guys to be just as good about reviewing as you were last chapter:begs: Please, please, please, please, make sure you review! 


	11. Waiting

AN: Okay, before I do my reviewer list, I have some bad news for all of you… After today, you won't have an update for another week. I'm going to a work camp and will not have any access to the internet. I can guarantee an update as soon as I get back next Saturday, though, on the 23rd. I'll even update before I delve into HBP. Yes, you read correctly… although all of you have probably already read Half-Blood Prince, I still have not. My parentals wouldn't get the book for me before I left since it was released today and I'm leaving early tomorrow morning. So I have to wait until I return from camp to read it. 

ALSO, since this story takes place in the sixth year, it is now AU because we know what really happened in year six now (or at least, you do. I don't yet). But hey! We can pretend! Now, I'm sure you're all DYING to get to the Chapter by now, so I'll do the reviewer list and then you can get on with it:

**Gidget89, skyfire2459, GinnyGin, nobody, Orlandoroxmysox, Any Rose, Shadowed Rains, shatteredangel2006, Jarno, Maraudersrock77, Margaret, yongweeperson, -RWAR-, final-phoenix, **and **dork1147**!

Yes, another quick note before the chapter: honestly people, why do you keep giving me speculations as to how Harry and Hermione could have avoided going to and/or staying in Dufftown? Because, _obviously_, if they hadn't stayed in Dufftown, there would be no plot to the story! You must understand these things!

NOW, the chapter…

* * *

Chapter 11: Waiting 

The following Tuesday, Harry and Hermione were on their lunch break when Harry, who had been quiet for several minutes, voiced a thought that had been nagging at him.

"Hermione, I've been thinking," he started. Hermione laughed.

"Oh no, Harry was _thinking_, something must be up," she said. Harry ignored her.

"What if that owl wasn't real?" he asked.

"Well, Harry, it seemed genuine enough to me," she said, putting down her fork onto her half-eaten plate of salad.

"But, think about it. You know Malfoy. He might be the _only_ survivor, and he's just trying to give us a false hope," said Harry. "Or, the letter might not have been from Malfoy at all…"

"Harry, stop it," said Hermione. "You're thinking too hard about this. First of all, if Malfoy were the only survivor, he wouldn't have the brainpower to send us an owl for the sole purpose of giving a false hope if he didn't even know we were alive. He would most likely just not send anything and leave us feeling hopeless."

"But still, he might not have sent it at all," remarked Harry.

"I'm getting to that," said Hermione. "If Malfoy and the rest of the Potions class didn't survive, then no one would even know that we were not in the classroom and might have had a chance of survival. So Malfoy must have sent it, and it has to be genuine… it just has to be…"

Harry could tell that Hermione was attempting to sound logical when she, too, was worried.

"Hermione, we're both thinking too hard," said Harry gently. He saw she hadn't touched her salad since they had gotten on the subject of the owl. "Why don't you try and eat some more?"

"No, I—I'm not too hungry. Let's just get back to work, we only have five minutes left on our break anyway," she said, checking her watch.

"All right," said Harry, standing. Hermione did so as well, and they both walked back to the kitchen, stopping on the way to let the hostess know that they were working again.

* * *

Around two o' clock, when the lunch hour had slowed down, the afternoon host, Greg, came into the kitchen to tell Hermione that he had seated a husband and wife in her section.

"Just when I thought I had a break…" said Hermione. The only people that had been at one of her tables had left a few minutes before then. She sighed and then walked out to where she saw the couple sitting, in a booth on the far wall. As she got closer and she recognized who they were, a feeling of absolute joy yet total dread filled every part of her body.

She was about to wait on Mr. and Mrs. Johnson.

"Hello, my name is Hermione and I will be your server today," she said cheerfully. Both of the Johnsons looked up, Mr. Johnson with mild interest, but Mrs. Johnson with shock in her eyes. Hermione flashed a quick smile to her.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, I'll just have water with lemon, please," said Mr. Johnson.

"And for you, ma'am?" said Hermione, looking at Mrs. Johnson.

"I'll have the same," said Mrs. Johnson weakly, still looking at Hermione, as though she couldn't believe her eyes.

"I'll be right back," said Hermione, turning around and heading back for the kitchen. Once in there, she calmly got together the two waters and placed them on a tray, but when she walked past Harry when coming out of the kitchen, she quietly said to him, "The Johnsons are here."

"Is that good or bad?" asked Harry to Hermione's retreating back.

"Both!" she replied, as she went around the corner.

"There you go," she said, setting the two waters on the table and giving them each a straw. "Are you both ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?"

"I think we're ready," said Mr. Johnson.

"Okay sir, what will you be having?" asked Hermione.

"I'm going to have the chicken salad sandwich, please," said Mr. Johnson.

"And what side would you like with that?"

"Oh, how about a garden salad? With Ranch dressing, please."

"Okay, and for you, ma'am?"

"I think I'll have the vegetable soup and salad combo, with Italian dressing please," said Mrs. Johnson.

"Would you like your salads brought out first or with your meal?"

"Oh, we're both starving, so could you bring them out first?" said Mr. Johnson.

"Not a problem, sir. I'll be back in a few minutes," said Hermione, turning around and heading back to the kitchen, giving her order to the cook. Harry wasn't in the kitchen, so she talked to a few of the other waitresses while she waited for the Johnsons food to be done. She noticed the salads were prepared about five minutes later, grabbed them, and walked out of the kitchen. When she got to the table, however, only Mrs. Johnson was sitting there. She set the salads down and then looked at Mrs. Johnson.

"Hello, Mrs. Johnson," she said quietly.

"Oh, Hermione dear, how are you? And how's Harry?" asked Mrs. Johnson.

"We're both fine," replied Hermione. She glanced around the restaurant and saw Harry clearing off a table nearby. She caught his eye when he was done and motioned him over to the table.

"You're both working here, then?" said Mrs. Johnson.

"Yes, Mrs. Johnson," said Harry.

"So you two are doing all right? Living all right?"

"Yes, we're great. We sure do miss you and your lovely house, though," said Hermione.

"Well, it seems you've found a suitable replacement for the whole atmosphere of the bed and breakfast," remarked Mrs. Johnson.

"Where is Mr. Johnson, by the way?" asked Harry.

"Oh, he just went to use the restroom," replied Mrs. Johnson. Harry glanced over at the men's restroom door and saw Mr. Johnson coming out.

"Here he comes, I'll just go now," said Harry, and he quickly pushed his cart that carried all of the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

"It was lovely talking to you again, Mrs. Johnson, enjoy your salad," said Hermione, and she, too, walked away. She joined Harry in the kitchen.

"Wasn't that nice, being able to see Mrs. Johnson again?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, it was," said Harry, loading the dishes into the sink. "Not too enthused about seeing Mr. Johnson, though."

"But Harry, keep in mind that he doesn't remember anything about us," said Hermione.

"Still, the way he treated Mrs. Johnson that night… the way he treated _us_…"

"I know it was terrible, but now it's as if he hasn't ever heard of us before thanks to your memory charm. Now, we're just two ordinary workers in a restaurant," said Hermione.

"That doesn't change who he is, Hermione," said Harry. "Like Malfoy, for example. The bombing caused him to write a letter to us—whether he was instructed to or not—but that doesn't mean he's suddenly a nice guy."

Hermione was silent for a moment.

"Well, I suppose you're right. He was terrible when he found out who we really were… and he struck his wife just for knowing about it," she said.

"I know. But still, we have to act like _we_ know nothing about it so we don't make him suspicious."

"Imagine how hard it must be for Mrs. Johnson to act like I'm just an ordinary waitress she's never seen before in front of him," said Hermione. "She looked so surprised when I showed up at their table the first time."

"Well, think about it. Wouldn't you have been? I mean, say someone you thought you would never see again just showed up on your doorstep one day. You'd be pretty shocked, wouldn't you?" reasoned Harry.

"Yes, that's true. I just can't get over I actually got see her again. She was so nice to us, and so hospitable." Harry just nodded.

"Hermione, I seated some people in your section!" came Greg's call from the kitchen door. Hermione sighed.

"Here I go again," she said, and she walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

AN: Sorry that this chapter was a bit shorter than normal… but hopefully it should be enough to last you guys a week. If all else fails, the week should give you plenty of time to review a lot! Right? So you're going to review this chapter, aren't you? Right now? Come on, you know you want to… better yet, you know that I want you to… so just click that little button down there that says "Submit a Review" and type some stuff in the box and everything will be all well and good, right? Right! So, REVIEW!

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	12. The Reply

AN: Sorry to say that this chapter is again shorter… as is the next one… and the next one… and the next one… which means that chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 are shorter than you would probably like them to be, but good nonetheless. And may I remind you that chapter 15 is the last chapter of this story. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers: **mysteriouscharm, PrincessLuckyCML, Brilover, Giles G, GinnyGin, maraudersrock77, reddfire, Goku-lover21, deathtraps, IlonaBliss, nobody, Batou, **and **Shadowed Rains**! And I again apologize as I did last Saturday for taking a week to update but I was at work camp with no computers whatsoever. 

Also, anyone who wishes to discuss any aspect of HBP with me now that I've read it is perfectly welcome to at my AIM name Prettykitty368 or MSN Messenger at TinkerBellPrincess165. I'm eager to talk out some points with fellow HP lovers :smile:

* * *

Chapter 12: The Reply

"Hey Harry…" said Hermione mischievously on Wednesday afternoon.

"Oh no…what are you asking for?" asked Harry playfully.

"What do you say we go shopping?" asked Hermione in her most innocent voice.

"Shopping for what?"

"Clothes, of course!" said Hermione.

"Why?" asked Harry. Hermione sighed.

"Because clothing is a necessity of the human race," said Hermione.

"We have clothes, Hermione," said Harry matter-of-factly.

"Oh gracious, Harry, you sound like my father! Come on, just for fun? How about we just window shop?" pleaded Hermione.

"Oh don't give me that… 'window shopping' always ends up with at least one purchase," said Harry with a laugh.

"We won't take any money with us, I promise. I just want to check out the shopping center! It's practically right next door, just a block down the street," said Hermione.

"Well… all right, but just because I'd like a chance to get out of this room," said Harry reluctantly.

"Yes! Okay, let's go!" said Hermione, moving toward the door.

"Hang on! I don't even have shoes on, yet!" said Harry, looking around for his sneakers.

"Harry, they're by the dresser," said Hermione. "I saw them there earlier."

"Oh, thanks," he said, and took them off of the floor and put them on his feet.

"Okay, now can we go?" asked Hermione, who was bouncing by the door.

"Yes, yes, we can go now," said Harry, and he followed Hermione out of the motel room.

* * *

Harry regretted conceding to Hermione's wishes two hours later as he trailed behind her while she admired dresses and pants and shirts and every other article of clothing known to womankind.

"Oh, Harry, isn't this shirt adorable?" she said, holding up a bright red shirt that said "Always Fashionably Late" on it with a baby turtle next to the words.

"Sure, better than the other hundred or so you've already shown me," said Harry cynically.

"You're tired of being here, I can tell," said Hermione. "Is there a store you want to go to?"

"Not really, I'd just like to go back to the motel room," he said. He only realized after he said it that it contradicted what he had said before they'd left about wanting to get _out_ of the motel room. Hermione groaned.

"Okay, we can walk back," she said, and she and Harry walked out of the store.

"Aren't you proud of me, though? I didn't buy anything!" said Hermione with dignity as they stepped into the warm summer air.

"Even if you had wanted to, you didn't have money anyway," said Harry.

"This is true," said Hermione. They were silent for a few minutes.

"Hermione, what's that?" asked Harry, stopping and looking upwards. Hermione stopped and looked up, too.

"I don't see anything unusual," she said, gazing across the clear blue sky.

"There, look, said Harry, pointing to a spot in the sky to their left. Hermione squinted and then she saw it—a brownish object, moving toward them.

"Harry, that's an _owl_!" said Hermione.

"_Malfoy's reply!_" they said together.

"Come on, over here, so we aren't in plain sight," said Harry, walking over between two buildings. They watched the owl come closer and closer until it finally landed on Hermione's outstretched arm.

"Yes, that's definitely the same owl," said Hermione. "Can you get the letter, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Sure," said Harry, and he proceeded to untie the letter from the owl's leg. After it had been relieved of its small burden, it took flight again and flew off into the sky once more.

"I guess we aren't supposed to reply to this one," said Hermione as Harry opened the letter. He then read it aloud.

"_Potter and Granger,_

_Thank you for sending your location. Someone will be coming in the next several days to retrieve you from Dufftown. Don't bother replying to this letter, as we have all the information we need to find you. I apologize, as I have not the time to update you on everyone's medical condition, but we're all alive. We will see you soon._

_Draco Malfoy."_

"Well, that's real informative," said Hermione sarcastically.

"At least we know he got our reply. That's good enough," said Harry.

"Yeah, you're right," said Hermione. "Come on, let's keep walking."

"Hermione?" asked Harry suddenly.

"Yes?"

"It seems my suspicions about Malfoy were wrong," said Harry.

"What, that he hasn't changed?" asked Hermione.

"No, of course not," said Harry. "Malfoy's still a git and he always will be. I'm talking about the fact that I thought the original letter was a fake."

"Oh, right," said Hermione. "Well, we'll know for sure once we're rescued, won't we?"

"Yeah, we will. If we're rescued."

"Harry, don't start that again," said Hermione. "We've been over this."

"I know, I just can't shake the feeling that it might all be a fluke," said Harry worriedly.

"Don't worry, Harry. It'll work out fine," said Hermione.

"If you think so, Hermione, if you think so…"

* * *

Harry and Hermione were in their motel room later that evening when Harry again brought up the subject of their rescue.

"Hermione… when we do get rescued, what are we going to do?"

"We'll go wherever the rescuer takes us," said Hermione blandly. She was rather tired from all the window-shopping earlier.

"No, really?" said Harry sarcastically. "I mean what specifically will we do?"

Hermione was silent for a moment.

"Well, I suppose we'll go to St. Mungo's to visit the survivors, and then from there we can arrange for transport to my parent's house."

"I guess that sounds about right," said Harry. "But… what about Hogwarts? What are we going to do about it?"

"That, Harry, I do not know," said Hermione. "We'll find out when it comes to us."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It just really bugs me, you know?"

"It bugs me, too, Harry. But for now, let's just concentrate on our way of getting back to the magical world: the rescuer that will come in a few days."

"Right," said Harry. They were both silent for a moment.

"Who do you think it'll be?" asked Harry.

"Oh, probably some Auror we've never heard of or something…" Harry laughed.

"Or maybe the Minister of Magic himself!" he joked. This time Hermione laughed.

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" she said optimistically.

* * *

AN: I really am sorry that it was so short… really, truly, I am… and I'm sorry that the rest of the chapters will be a bit shorter than normal… but this is just the way it's gotta be… I promise an update on Thursday before I leave for the beach for the weekend :big smile: Remember to talk to me about HBP! I'm eager for discussion!

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	13. Rescue!

AN: I'm sorry! I KNOW I promised an update on Thursday before I left, but as it turns out I ended up leaving early in the morning and had no time…! Again, I'm so so so so so sorry! Please forgive me and still review as normal! 

Thanks to my reviewers: **mysteriouscharm, nobody, Stacey, SlytherinBeauty **(yep… I cried, too…), **orlandoroxmysox** (I've heard rumors that R.A.B. is Regulus Black…), **maraudersrock77 **(yes, as I said to Orlando, I've heard rumors that R.A.B. is Regulus Black. Where did you hear this information so that you have the confidence of knowing it for sure and not merely having a hypothesis?), **Hermione-Potter-52036, reddfire, Goku-lover21, yongweeperson **(sadly, JKR's word is final.), **Jayu **(thanks for the compliments!), and **dork1147**!

Also, a quick side-note: I've had people ask me if there's "more to Hogwarts being blown up than meets the eye" and such. I will say right now that the bombing of Hogwarts was nothing more than a muggle accident and was never intentional to bomb what muggles knew as a school of wizardry. There's nothing more to it than what you've read.

Now, chapter 13!

* * *

Chapter 13: Rescue! 

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" yelled Hermione outside the motel bathroom door.

"What!" came his muffled reply.

"You have been in the shower for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES, and I'm dying to get clean! Get out, NOW!" she hollered.

"All right, all right, give me a minute!" he said. Hermione was in a very huffy mood, since it was 8:25 on Friday morning, and if she didn't leave for work in fifteen minutes, she'd be late. She marched over to her bed and flopped down on it. A few seconds later she heard the water turn off, and then after another two minutes, Harry emerged in his restaurant clothes, aside from the apron, which they were required to leave at the restaurant.

"Is that really the time?" gasped Harry, looking at the alarm clock.

"Yes, Harry, it is," said Hermione, quickly getting up from the bed. "That means I have less than ten minutes to shower, thanks to you," she said, and she disappeared into the bathroom.

"She woke up on the wrong side of the bed…" said Harry quietly.

"I heard that!" came her indignant reply. Harry just chuckled and continued combing his hair.

Just when he was slipping on his shoes at 8:40, Hermione dashed out of the bathroom, her shirt un-tucked and a towel still on her hair. She fumbled around for her wand while throwing the towel on the floor, and when she finally found her wand, she charmed her hair dry and then brushed it quickly.

"Come on, Harry, let's go!" she said, and practically ran out the door, Harry close behind her.

* * *

When the two of them opened the doors of the restaurant at 8:50 and walked in, Mr. Larrep was there, waiting for them.

"You're late," he said sternly.

"Mr. Larrep, we're so sorry, we…" started Hermione.

"Oh, I'm only kidding!" he said. "Here, I've got your aprons, your nametags are already on them." The two teens thanked their boss and then silently put the red aprons on.

"Hermione?" said Harry after a few minutes of them checking the tables.

"Yes?" she answered tersely.

"I'm really sorry about taking so long in the shower… I just forgot about everything for a while and started daydreaming," he said sheepishly. Hermione sighed.

"It's okay. I over-reacted. We got here before the doors opened, so it's okay. Apology accepted." She checked her watch. "It's almost nine o' clock, and we've checked all the tables. Let's go back to the kitchen."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Because I want to talk to Trisha," said Hermione. Trisha was the person that assembled all the non-cooked plates, like the salads, fruit dishes, and other such things.

"Oh, okay," said Harry. So, he followed Hermione into the kitchen and stood by, quite bored, as Hermione and Trisha talked for the next fifteen minutes until the first person showed up for breakfast. Courtney, the morning hostess, came into the kitchen and told Hermione that she had seated someone at one of her tables. Courtney also told Hermione that the guy looked like he was healing from several bad injuries. Curious, Hermione walked out of the kitchen immediately and spotted the back of a head full of blonde hair in her section. She walked over and started her normal introduction of "Hi, my name's Hermione and I'll be your server today," but she never even got to open her mouth.

Draco Malfoy was sitting in front of her. Hermione started stuttering nonsense syllables when he spoke.

"Well, if it isn't the mudblood. Where's your little boyfriend?" he asked smoothly. Hermione's mind rewound back to a dark corridor outside the potions classroom, the anger she had felt then, and her reply to that very same question he had asked.

"None of your business just yet, ferret," said Hermione, not bothering to hide her contempt.

"Oh, touchy, are we? I said in my last owl to you that we'd be sending someone to rescue you," he said coolly.

"Yes, but I wasn't expecting _you_," she said.

"You know, if you can't keep your mouth quiet, Granger, I can just leave here without you," he said in barely more than a whisper. Hermione tried to appear indifferent to this idea, although she desperately wanted rescue. Draco made up for her lack of words.

"If you don't scuttle back into the kitchen with my drink order soon, they're going to wonder what's up out here and come to investigate," he said smugly. This brought Hermione back to her senses.

"Fine," she said shortly. "What would you like to drink?"

"Water will do," he said simply, examining his cuticles. Hermione turned around and walked as calmly as she could back to the kitchen. Once the walls safely hid her, however, she rushed over to Harry, who was standing by the sink looking quite bored.

"Harry!" she said, practically jumping on him.

"What!" he asked, surprised.

"Draco bloody Malfoy is here!" she said through gritted teeth.

"Say again?" asked Harry faintly.

"The ferret has arrived," said Hermione.

"For what? Surely _he_ isn't rescuing us!" remarked Harry.

"He is," said Hermione simply. "And he's not being very nice about it either. He's insisting on _dining_ while he's here…"

"You mean he ordered something?" asked Harry.

"Just a drink at the moment, water. I'm glad he ordered that and not a Butterbeer…" muttered Hermione as she got Malfoy's water together. She soon walked out of the kitchen and brought it out to the smirking blonde.

"Anything else I can get for you?" she asked, as politely as she could. Mr. Larrep was standing in a nearby corner. Hermione noticed Draco hadn't even opened his menu.

"Not just yet, I still need more time," he said loudly. He then leaned toward her and lowered his voice to a whisper. "And when you come back, Granger, bring Potter with you," he said in a far less kind tone.

"Yes, master," mocked Hermione quietly, as she walked away. She was just about to go into the kitchen when Courtney told her she had seated a family of four in her section. Hermione had hardly noticed the restaurant filling up because of the distraction of Malfoy. There were already at least ten seated tables. Hermione turned back around out of the kitchen and went over to the new table.

"Hello, my name's Hermione and I'll be your server today…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry was watching the whole ordeal from just outside the kitchen doors. The whole thing was rather fishy, he thought. He had never trusted Malfoy before, why should he start now?

But then again, he thought, things were different now. Maybe the destruction of Hogwarts changed Malfoy. He continued to observe Malfoy closely until Hermione returned to the kitchen and saw Harry standing there.

"Harry, I'm going back to Malfoy's table, and he told me to bring you with me. Come on," she said, and beckoned him to follow her. When they arrived at Malfoy's table, Hermione had started to ask if he wanted anything else when Draco pulled out his wand.

"Malfoy, what in the bloody hell are you doing?" asked Harry quietly.

"Listen to me, both of you. Grab the saltshaker - it's a portkey. After I do what I'm about to do, it will activate," said Malfoy.

"That had better be—" Hermione started.

"And don't worry, Granger," Draco cut her off. "It's authorized." He then pointed his wand in between Harry and Hermione.

"_Stupefy!_"

The last thing Hermione heard before she was spun into a whirl of color was the loud crash of glass breaking.

No one noticed the three sixteen-year-olds vanishing into thin air. No one noticed that where there were once three living people, there was only a solitary water glass.

Everyone in the restaurant was too busy looking at the waitress lying motionless on the floor, shattered glass surrounding her.

* * *

Hermione and Harry landed on their hands and knees, hard on solid ground, with Malfoy standing beside them. Harry stood up, grabbed Hermione's hand, and helped her to stand. When they saw where they were, Hermione gripped Harry's hand so tightly that he thought she must have been breaking his bones. But he hardly noticed, as he himself was in shock.

Directly in front of them, majestic no more, was the remains of Hogwarts castle that they had left so long ago. Hermione had silent tears running down her cheeks once again, but Harry was looking up in the sky. There was something there, very far away, coming slowly towards him. A few moments later, when it was very close, he realized what it was, and he held out his free arm, tears of joy in his eyes.

With a soft hoot of greeting, Hedwig landed on his arm.

* * *

AN: Hope you all liked that. Review please, I beg of you! And just a reminder, only 2 more chapters to go…!

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	14. Facing The Truth

AN: I know, I'm finally back! Sorry it took a bit longer than usual.

Thanks to my reviewers: **Firedarkness, GinnyGin, Ms. Sakura Moon, PrincessLuckyCML, Shadowed Rains, Slytherin Beauty, Gryfindor260, Goku-lover21, -RWAR-, dork1147, kevsgirl98, maraudersrock77, **and **nobody**! To be honest, the reviews for last chapter were among the most enthusiastic ones I've gotten yet.

Keep it up people!

* * *

Chapter 14: Facing the Truth

"Malfoy… why did you bring us here?" asked Hermione.

"I figured you'd want to see it and just reflect back on it," said Draco. "Pay a tribute to the lost lives or something…."

"We've seen it. We saw it get blown up, and we saw what it looked like afterwards," said Harry shortly. "We'd really like to see our friends."

"I figured as much," said Draco, and he pulled out a clean sock from his pocket. "This is a portkey that will take us to St. Mungo's." He checked his watch. "It will activate in about thirty seconds, so grab it and wait."

Harry and Hermione did as they were told, Harry looking warily at Hedwig.

"You better let her fly away, Potter," said Draco, following Harry's gaze. "She'll catch up with us at St. Mungo's later." Hedwig, hearing Draco's words, hooted softly and flew off of Harry's arm. He watched her get smaller and smaller in the distance until he heard Draco counting.

"Three… two… one…"

And then Harry, Hermione, and Draco were again spun into a whirl of color.

* * *

They landed in a corridor of St. Mungo's, and they all managed to stay on their feet this time.

"Who would you like to see first?" asked Draco uninterestedly. "Everyone from the castle is in this corridor."

"Ron," said Harry and Hermione at the same time.

"He's two doors down on the left," said Draco, pointing. Harry and Hermione started walking when Draco continued.

"I haven't told anyone about you surviving, so he might be a bit surprised."

"Oh, that's just _lovely_," said Hermione, and she and Harry made their way to Ron's door, still hand in hand. Harry knocked on it several times, and they heard Ron's voice say, "Come in!" Harry and Hermione shared a look with the same meaning: "_You don't know how glad I am to hear his voice_."

Hermione slowly turned the door handle, and then she and Harry both walked in.

"Ron?" said Hermione. The redhead was lying in the bed sitting up, turned away from them. He had been doing something on his bedside table, but when Hermione spoke, his hands stopped moving.

"Hermione?" he said hoarsely, not turning around.

"Yeah, Ron, it's her," said Harry. Ron whipped around at the sound of Harry's voice and saw his two best friends standing there.

"Oh God…" said Ron faintly. "It's… I mean… you two… you're… you're here…" he stammered. Hermione let go of Harry's hand and rushed over to Ron, enveloping him in a hug.

"Ron, you have no idea how glad we are to see you!" she said to him, as she let him go.

"Well, I think it must be something like what I'm feeling," said Ron with a laugh. He then looked over at Harry, who was walking over to the bed.

"Harry, mate, where have you guys been all this time? It's been, what, two and a half weeks? We all thought you guys didn't make it," said Ron.

"Well, apparently, Malfoy thought differently. It seems that he kept it a secret from all of you so he could surprise you with us or something," said Hermione.

"No kidding? Remind me to thank him next time I see him," said Ron casually. Harry and Hermione both looked shocked at this statement.

"What, didn't he tell you…? Well, judging by the looks on your faces, I guess not. Anyway, we've all pretty much forgotten our differences because of what happened," said Ron.

"Wish we could say the same," said Harry. "Malfoy's still as bitter towards us as always."

"Shame," said Ron. "So, tell me, what have you guys been up to?"

"Well, we've been in Dufftown for pretty much the entire time," said Hermione.

"_Dufftown_?" said Ron. "But how did you get there?"

"We walked," said Harry bitterly. "An adventure I won't soon forget."

"Wow, that must have taken some endurance," said Ron. "How did you guys live there?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"You can start," said Harry, pulling up a chair for himself and one for Hermione.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, as Harry and Hermione were concluding their story, there was a knock on Ron's door. Without waiting for an answer, a nurse stepped into the room.

"Oh, Mr. Wealsey, you have visitors!" said the nurse. She turned to Harry and Hermione. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave for the moment while I check up on your friend here."

"Certainly," said Hermione to the nurse. "We'll see you later, Ron."

"See you," said Ron, as Harry and Hermione walked out of the room.

"I cannot possibly put into words how happy I'm feeling right now," said Hermione.

"That's all right, because I know the feeling," said Harry.

"We have to send an owl to my parents, Harry," said Hermione.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go up to the tea shop and see if they have an owl we could use," said Harry.

"Good idea," said Hermione, and she followed.

* * *

Harry and Hermione arrived in the teashop a few minutes later and were greeted by an elderly lady behind a counter.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. "By any chance, do you know who this owl belongs to? She arrived here a few minutes ago without a letter," said the lady, pointing to the corner. There, sitting on a perch, was Hedwig.

"Oh, she's mine!" said Harry. "I let her fly to catch up with Hermione and I when we left to come here. This is very convenient, actually, because we needed an owl. Do you happen to have a quill and parchment we could borrow?"

"Why, yes, right here," said the lady, reaching under the counter, and handing Harry and eagle-feather quill, ink, and a piece of parchment. "Can I offer you two something to drink?"

"We'd love to accept the offer, but we don't have any money at the moment," said Hermione, as Harry sat down at one of the tables.

"Well, glasses of water are free, if you'd each like one of those," said the lady.

"That sounds fine," said Hermione, as she joined Harry at the table. A few moments later the lady walked over to them and placed two glasses of water on the table.

"Anything else I can get for you, just let me know," she said, and walked back behind the counter. Harry and Hermione sipped their waters while they composed a letter to Hermione's parents:

_Mum and Dad,_

_Harry and I have been through so much that we can't even begin to explain it in a letter, but in short, we are no longer at Hogwarts and will be staying at the Burrow until you get home. I'm sorry to make this so short but I'm low on time. I miss you and I love you,_

_Hermione._

"That's good enough, don't you think?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, that's fine," said Harry. "Let's send it off." At this statement, Hedwig gave an indignant hoot.

"Yes, Hedwig, you've got more flying to do, but this is _very _important, okay?" said Harry, tying the letter to her leg. "Take this to Hermione's parents, they're in Ireland," he finished. He then brought Hedwig over to the window, opened it, and let her fly off.

"So now, we get permission to use a fire to go to the Burrow…" said Hermione.

"There are floo fires down in the lobby, dears," said the lady behind the counter.

"Thank you," said Hermione. "And thanks for the waters, we really needed them," she added.

"Anytime," said the lady, as Harry and Hermione walked out of the shop and down to the lobby.

* * *

Once they arrived by the front desk, they looked around for a fireplace that wasn't busy, spotted one, and walked over to it.

"Oh, I really hate traveling by floo powder…" said Harry.

"I'm not too fond of it, either, but we don't exactly have a choice," said Hermione.

"Ladies first," said Harry with a smile. Hermione rolled her eyes and then grabbed a handful of the fine powder. She threw it into the flames, which promptly turned green, and then stepped into them.

"_The Burrow!_" she said loudly, and she felt herself spinning around in tight circles. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for it to stop. When it finally did, she stepped out of the Weasley's fireplace, coughing and sputtering. When she caught her breath, she looked around.

"Mrs. Weasley?" she called.

"Hello? Yes? Is someone there?" said Mrs. Weasley hurriedly as she rushed into the living room where the fireplace was. She noticed Hermione and gave a scream of joy.

"Oh, Hermione, you're alive! Arthur and I were so worried about you…" she said, wrapping her arms around Hermione. Once she let go of her she started asking questions, starting with "What about Harry?"

"Harry should be on his way, now," said Hermione. "He's coming right behind me from St. Mungo's."

"Oh, you two went to see Ron?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes, he's doing fine. He was overjoyed to see us, and we were likewise happy to see him," said Hermione.

"Oh, that's good," said Mrs. Weasley. Just then, Harry appeared in the fireplace, coughing worse than Hermione had been.

"Oh, Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley, hugging him as well. "You two must have quite a story to tell!" she said.

"Yes, it's definitely worth hearing," said Harry.

"Well, come on, come in the kitchen and enlighten me!" said Mrs. Weasley. As Harry and Hermione followed her into the large kitchen, they both just smiled.

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AN: And that's the end of chapter fourteen! The next chapter is the final, and is merely the epilogue. I promise it'll be up before the end of the week!

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


	15. Newpapers

AN: Well, here it is… the last chapter… :cry: I'm sad to see this story end, but I'm saying right now, that there will be NO SEQUELS and NO FURTHER CHAPTERS. I'm sorry, really, but I'm not going to get into that this time. If you still want a good read after this story's over, check out another story of mine, "Never Say Goodbye," which is my other good one at the moment. I also have a new one-shot up called "One More Day" if you don't feel like reading a whole story. 

My list of reviewers will be at the end of this chapter…

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Chapter 15: Newspapers

_**The London Times**_

**THREE TEENAGERS MISSING FROM DUFFTOWN**

_It was just another ordinary day at a small diner in Dufftown, until a waitress suddenly collapsed, and three teens disappeared. Two of the teens, Harry and Hermione Potter, were brother and sister and were workers at the restaurant; the third was a young man, whom no one has been able to identify. Miss Potter was the waitress attending to his table, according to Mr. William Larrep, the manager of the diner._

"_No one knows what happened," says Mr. Larrep. "One of the waitresses just fell on the floor without warning, and then where I knew I had seen three people not ten seconds before, there was no one."_

_There are countless investigators working on the case, but so far there has been no progress except for a thorough search of the motel room Mr. and Miss Potter were sharing. It has been cleared of their belongings, which will be returned to them when and if they are found._

"_This is the strangest disappearance we've seen in a while," says Sgt. John McCaffey, the lead investigator. "There was no sign of any kind of struggle, nothing left behind at the scene, and, the most peculiar thing was they simply vanished in what appears to be a matter of seconds. No one saw them actually leave the restaurant through the doors, and, to be honest, how could they have gotten there so quickly anyway?"_

_Indeed, the quaint settlement of Dufftown hasn't seen something this strange for years. The case is quickly spreading all over England, and investigators from across the country are pitching in to help. No one knows if these three adolescents will ever be recovered, but London is hoping and praying for their detection._

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_**The Daily Prophet**_

**WHAT ARE HARRY AND HERMIONE UP TO NOW?**

_There has been strange behavior reported between the newly discovered Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who seemingly appeared back in the wizarding world after being missing for almost three weeks. There have been several eye-witnesses that have declared they saw the two teens holding hands in public, plus several letters that have come in to the Daily Prophet office giving theories as to why they think Harry and Hermione both disappeared and returned together. Both of the teenagers have refused to comment on anything and denied all speculations of their absence. However, there is a certain wizard who swears on his life he caught Harry and Hermione in lip-lock. The latest question everyone is asking: What are Harry and Hermione up to now?_

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_**The Daily Prophet**_

**HOGWARTS TO BE REBUILT**

_After much debating and contemplating by the Wizard's Council, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, formerly destroyed by accidental muggle acts, is going to be rebuilt on location. The precise dates for beginning and finishing the castle are unknown, but the Council estimates that building such a large structure will take ten years at the very least, even with all the magical advancements of today._

"_We are trying to make the new castle as much like its predecessor as possible," says the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, who has been put in charge of the new structure. "In order to do that, we're going to need a lot of planning and a lot of magical assistance."_

_Of course, there will be new students coming to Hogwarts next year, and a select few survivors will be returning, but where will they go? The Wizard's Council is also working on a temporary campus for the new students, which is as of yet an undecided location._

"_It would have to be big enough to house all the students that would accumulate while the new castle was being built, yet in a place that can be somewhat easily concealed by Muggles," continues the Chief Warlock. "There aren't many places like that left. If all else fails, we are going to have to move into the Magical Beast reserves, which is the last thing we want to do."_

_Although the Council is still in the planning stages of the new Hogwarts, they assure us that by the time the new school year starts, a new Headmaster will be appointed and a temporary campus will be available._

* * *

_**  
The Daily Prophet**_

**SURVIVORS RELEASED FROM ST. MUNGO'S**

_At last, after close to a month, the last of the Hogwarts survivors were released from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. They are all quite relieved to be back in their homes with their families, but some are still mourning the loss of siblings._

"_My sister, Ginny, was somewhere in the upper floors of the castle," says Ron Weasley, who was about to finish his sixth year at Hogwarts. "She didn't make it, and our whole family is taking it really hard." The Weasley family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur and Molly Weasley and their six children, not including their late daughter._

_The only ones who did "make it" turned out to be the sixth year advanced Potions class, who was spared the brunt of the blast by being in the very underground depths of the stone castle. All of the students and the teacher, Professor Severus Snape, that were in the classroom survived. For over two weeks the location of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, who were supposed to be in that Potions class but were absent from class that day, was unknown until they suddenly showed up at St. Mungo's with Draco Malfoy. They were warmly received there by the patients from their school and by Mrs. Weasley, who they are currently staying with until Miss Granger's parents, who are Muggles, return from a holiday in Ireland._

Hermione laid down the last newspaper on the Weasley's kitchen table and sighed. She had read the last several articles out loud to Harry and Ron from copies of _The London Times _and _The Daily Prophet_.

"Well, I think that's the closest the _Prophet_'s ever come to the truth," said Ron with a laugh. Harry and Hermione joined in with his laughter for a few moments, before Hermione stopped and the thoughtful look Harry had seen so often on her face lately reappeared once more. She looked at Harry, who was sitting next to her.

"Harry, do you think the Dufftown police are still looking for us?" she asked.

"Probably," he replied casually. Catching the look on Hermione's face, he added, "Oh, Hermione, don't beat yourself up about it. They'll give up eventually—"

"And declare us dead?" Hermione cut him off.

"But Hermione, the wizarding world knows you and Harry are still around," said Ron from across the table.

"Well, yes, but still…"

"Hermione, we won't be declared dead," said Harry. "We'll just be missing in action. Don't worry. It's probably better that way anyway, what with the connections we made there."

"I suppose…" said Hermione.

"Harry's right, Hermione, just stop worrying, we have bigger things on our minds," said Ron.

"You mean Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.

"Well, he could have meant something like this," said Harry, and he leaned over and kissed Hermione briefly. Ron hastily made a face and turned away. Hermione saw him and giggled. This was what life was all about… spending time with her two best friends. She pulled out of the kiss and sighed happily. She knew that she, Harry, and Ron would have to face the troubles ahead of them eventually, but for now…

It was just Easier To Run.

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AN: I'll have you all know that originally there was not going to be dialogue in this last chapter, but I decided it was necessary. I really hope you all liked this story, and I assure you, I will have new stories, eventually. But right now, I have many things clouding my mind, and probably will focus on the ones I already have before creating a new one. Thanks SO MUCH to all my reviewers for this story: (Hint: to find yourself use "ctrl" and "F" then type your penname.) 

**riter402, Song of Rain, GinnyGin, xxxicedfirexxx, SmrtDancrGrl, Lancetree80, Dead Red Head, Margaret, dork1147, CrazyPoet, mysteriouscharm, Shatteredangel2006, skyfire2459, Alantie Mistaniu, Shadowed Rains, PrincessLuckyCML, centaur219, WJShipper4eva, animerockstar, anonymous, katepotter13, Arcanine aka Hermione, someone you don't know, Gryffindor620, LaLa09, Lyr942, Ms. Sakura Moon, nobody, mellyone, mkiara, Tritium, orlandoroxmysox, hyperactivecookie, Orenda1, Parking Lot, yongweeperson, CountingSheep123, gidget89, Iluv2act, the scarlet bohemian, snowfallegends, Kitaru, Tay, Hermione-Potter-52036, Stacey, -RWAR-, maraudersrock77, Amy Rose, PhoenixBliss, Jarno, reddfire, final-phoenix, Brilover, Giles C, Goku-lover21, deathtraps, IlonaBliss, Batou, SlytherinBeauty, Jayu, Firedarkness, kevsgirl98, fan, mione96, TrinityFlower of Memories, **and **Valérie**!

You all are so awesome, and until I actually wrote down all these names, I would have never guessed that 67 different people reviewed for this story! Thank you SO MUCH again! Signing off for the last time on Easier To Run…

-xXx SpicySugar xXx-


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